


We're Circus People: A Retelling of Beauty & Beast

by ParadiseAvenger



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Child Abuse, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-01
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 00:25:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 71,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParadiseAvenger/pseuds/ParadiseAvenger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After what happened, Roxas only had one choice: join the circus. He was a freak after all, but there were several things he didn't count on. The first was his beautiful twin following him and the second was her. AU. Adult Themes. RoxasXNamine. SoraXKairi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Opening Act: The Freak Show!

Please, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! The Breaking of Poisonwood by Paradise Avenger. (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected this. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The Poisonwood—)

…

Some of you might recognize this as the chapter I gave to my friend Baileymermaid95 for her challenge fic (“We’re Circus People”), but since it didn’t work out (and I am disappointed in you all for not checking it out like I so nicely asked) I get my chapter back. Yay… So, here I go. And if you did read it, but didn’t participate or review or anything, REREAD anyway because I changed a lot of stuff to suit my preferred plot methods.

X X X

“Check it out, man.”

“Wow, what a freak show!”

It was the words that used to bother Roxas Strife the most, but he was a little more than used to it now. It was easy to sit with the maimed side of his face to the crowds and stare off at nothing, deep in his own thoughts. Sitting on his little chair in the Freak Tent, safely behind a low velvet rope to keep the marks back and a glass partition, he had plenty of time to think about his life even though he wished he could learn to think about something else. 

Like the cute red-headed contortionist, Kairi, who had folded her half-naked body up small enough to fit into a suitcase and been wheeled away for her last show.

Or Riku, the man who kept his eyes hidden behind a blindfold during the day because they were strange iridescent green, lighting up like bright lanterns that literally glowed in the dark.

Or the pyrotechnist, Axel, who had set the curtains to the stage on fire accidentally and stood there watching it burn until someone slapped him in the back of his red head with a running fire hose.

Or the strange dark-haired girl, Xion, who had joined the freak show a few weeks ago. When she saw Roxas’s eyes on her, she opened her mouth in a weird sort of grin to show her protruding vampiric eyeteeth.

Or even Leon, the owner and organizer of this traveling family. Leon was such a kind man, driven to start a rolling family for people like him, people that were born with defects and not accepted by modern society. Leon used to have a strange growth on his face, but he had had it removed when it proved to be cancerous. Now, there was only a long thick scar bisecting his handsome face.

Sora was mostly what bothered Roxas now. 

It bothered him how his beautiful unmarred flawless perfect fraternal twin brother had decided to run away to the circus with Roxas when he just couldn’t take it anymore. Sora had so much ahead of him, but here he was now, working the stands outside the Freak Show tent where his twin sat endlessly being gawked at. And Sora even enjoyed it, enjoyed being here and working the stands. It was like living in a constant vacation to Sora. He even had a little crush on Kairi the Contortionist. 

Roxas sighed and tried to push all those thoughts away. He decided to watch the crowds and see just how many people were shocked by his damaged face.

It was then that she walked into the tent. 

Dragged by a brown-haired girl in a yellow tank top who was clearly her friend was the most beautiful girl Roxas had ever seen in his life. She was fair-skinned and fair-haired with enormous innocent blue eyes and wearing short white shorts and a white tank top splattered with different colors of paint. She actually looked ashamed to be gawking at the freaks and weirdoes, her cheeks tinged cutely pink. When she looked up and met Roxas’s eyes, he suddenly had the overpowering urge to turn the maimed side of his face away so she wouldn’t see it, but that was what people paid for and he forced his gaze forward so she could see. Her mouth opened in a strange little ‘o’ and then her friend was pulling her along down the tent. A moment later, they were both gone.

“Jesus, what an ugly bastard!”

“Got his face stuck in a meat processor.”

The boys barked out horrible laughter, but Roxas was used to that. That girl’s eyes… they stayed with him all night and he wasn’t used to that. Even his guilty thoughts of Sora went away. Tonight, well, tonight would be the night that changed everything.

…

When the night was finally over, Roxas jumped down from his own platform and let himself out the small door to the cell-like Freak Show Tent where he sat eight hours a day. He went through the tent, helping down those that had twisted legs or no arms or just generally couldn’t get out of the partitions without help. Xion followed his lead, hoisting down a young girl with an extra set of small legs inside her thighs and helping their strange z-shaped woman step down in her jagged heels. With all the freaks loose like animals set out of their cages, Roxas went out to find Sora.

The carnival was closing for the night now—the bright candied lights of the rides and the flashing lights of the midway winking out one by one leaving the area cast in a deep shadowy glow. 

Even in the darkness of Leon’s circus-slash-carnival, Roxas had no trouble making it to the game-stand his twin always worked, the High Striker. Sora always worked up great custom for that stand because he was small and thin with a winning smile and honest blue eyes and he could ring that bell without even breaking a sweat. He looked like a porcelain doll and if he could do it, a lot of marks thought they could do it too, but Sora was a lot stronger than he looked.

“Sora,” Roxas called out when he drew close.

He glimpsed the glow of Riku’s bright eyes in the darkness, but after a moment the light winked out. Riku had either put his blindfold back on or else closed his eyes. He was so strange… How could eyes legitimately glow like lanterns or light bulb, such a strange green like that? Those eyes were like lightning bugs in a permanent state of glow, strange though beautiful.

Sora turned, his perfect pale face lighting up in a smile, as he lowered the giant hammer used to strike the levered target over his narrow shoulder. 

Sometimes, it was hard to believe he and Roxas were twins, even fraternal ones.

Sora Strife was beautiful. There was no way around that description of him. The planes of his face were porcelain ivory, carved by the hands of the gods, with the most big and beautiful cerulean blue eyes fringed with lashes so long and thick they were like twin fans. His hair was the color of chocolate, feathered against his cheeks as if melted by the heat of his skin and styled every night by his pillow. Even his body was beautiful, slender, with long limbs and thin long-fingered hands and as virtually hairless as that of a child. If he were to put on wig and a dress, he would be the most beautiful girl in the world. As a young man working the High Striker, he drew plenty of girls’ eyes and forced their boyfriends to buff up and give the machine a go to no avail.

Roxas Strife was the Freak Show’s “Hamburger Head.” The right side of Roxas’s face was twisted and marred from an… accident that has scarred him as a child. Healed over now, the flesh there disfigured and stained with a dark purple birthmark. His bright cerulean eyes, the same color as Sora’s, were still lovely even in his ugly face though. His hair was like spun gold, spiked wildly up on one side of his head as if wind-blown. He had the same build as Sora, slender and fair, and almost as deceptively strong. It was just his damaged face that made them so different. It was almost too cruel for beautiful Sora and hideous Roxas to be twins, but Sora never even saw the damage to Roxas. He always looked right past it, smiling and hugging his twin tightly.

“Roxas,” Sora said cheerfully. “How’d it go tonight? The tent looked busy from here.”

“Fine. Axel didn’t light anything on fire, did he?”

Sora laughed. “No, but it was close. I was prepared tonight.” He gestured to the hose lying in range. 

“Everything was good out here then?”

“Oh yes. I had a bunch of fools try the High Striker and two of them couldn’t even lift the hammer.”

Roxas chuckled. “You make it look too easy, Sora!”

Sora’s eyes drifted as the lovely contortionist, half-dressed as usual, walked by on her hands with her legs folded up in the air like a pretzel. “Hey Sora,” she called as she passed, waving at him with her foot. Sometimes, it was frightening the things that girl could do with her body.

“Hi… hi Kairi,” Sora forced out, his eyes fixed on her.

“Roxas,” she said cheerfully and then stretched her legs out over herself into a c-shape and walked off like a crab.

Roxas elbowed his twin. “Sora, you should just talk to her.”

“I know… but… what if she thinks I’m just looking for a freak?”

“You’re not and she knows it. Look at the way you are with me.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with you, Roxas,” Sora said.

Roxas’s heart swelled with a mixture of love for his brother and frustration that Sora just didn’t see what bothered Roxas so much and forced him to join the circus because he just couldn’t take the taunts anymore. “Sora,” Roxas breathed and met his twin’s eyes. 

Sora lifted his hand and laid it over the damaged part of Roxas. “See,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong.”

Roxas pulled away, catching Sora’s hand. “Thanks, Sora,” he whispered.

Sora grinned at him widely, teeth white and straight, but Roxas was reminded of Xion’s twisted smile with her sharp fangs. “So, you really think I should talk to Kairi?”

“Definitely.”

“What should I say?”

“Don’t worry. Just be yourself, Sora. You have a way with words.”

Sora smiled, finished boxing up the High Striker for the night with Roxas’s help, and then hustled off to Kairi’s trailer to talk with her. 

Roxas sighed, watching his twin go, turned around, and let out a squawk of surprise. “Xion, damn it! Don’t do that!”

She grinned, showing those teeth. “Sorry. I wanted to talk to you,” she said and tucked some dark hair behind her ear. Roxas had no idea why Xion had come to the circus to be a “Vampiress.” In this day and age, the obsession with vampires was sexy and she probably had a line-up of people who wanted to be with her because she was so different. But, hell, that might be why she was here with other strange people. She wanted to fit in—like Sora had said, some people were looking for freaks just so they could say they had done it. “So, do you have a minute?”

“Yeah, sure.”

The lights of the bright Ferris Wheel winked out in succession and the wheel loomed like a lurking spider overhead, casting cage-like shadows from the silvery moonlight. They walked through the carnival grounds together, helping close up where needed, until they finally reached the edge of the grounds and Xion stopped, looking out over the field of long grass. 

“It looks like the ocean, doesn’t it?”

“What does?”

“The grass.”

Roxas followed her gaze. “In a way, I suppose.”

Xion wet her lips and pressed her fingertip to her fang until her finger ran with blood. “I saw the way you looked at that girl in the tent earlier.”

His heart skipped a beat. “What girl?” he feigned.

She slid him a look. “Don’t play coy with me. You know which girl.”

“What about her?” Roxas grumbled, crossing his arms.

“You don’t think…” she hesitated before continuing, “You don’t think that people like us have any real chance at love outside this place, do you?”

Roxas sighed. “Xion, you—”

“I mean, carnies are carnies for life. They stay in this place forever.”

“Xion, you could always get your teeth fixed.”

“But I don’t want to. It’s a part of me that I accept. I want someone to love me, to accept me for all that I am, even the freakish part.” Her blue eyes glowed in the dark. “Don’t you want that, too?”

“I have that,” he whispered. “I have Sora.”

She sighed, looking away. “You don’t understand.”

Roxas’s mind returned to the pale girl with those bright blue eyes, her cheeks pink with embarrassment and her mouth opened slightly at the sight of him. What would it be like to be with her if he was normal? If she could touch his face without wincing away? What if she could be like Sora? “I do, Xion, I do, but…”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

Xion sighed, closing her lips over her teeth. 

“I mean, there are people out there who are different. Look at Sora.”

“I know. You’re very lucky to have him.”

“Sometimes… I feel like I’m dragging him down with me,” Roxas confessed.

“How so?”

“Well, he’s perfect, beautiful even. He doesn’t need to be wasting his life here with me in the circus.”

“But he loves you,” Xion whispered.

“I know. I know he does.” 

They stood together at the edge of the sea of grass in silence, watching the lightning bugs dance and wink. The stars and the moon looked so close here, like they could just reach out and touch them, pull them down to earth and put them on display. 

“It’s beautiful here,” Xion whispered suddenly. “I wish we could stay forever. I wish this could be home.”

Roxas touched her shoulder, the fingers of his free hand going to his maimed face. “Carnies don’t have a real home. This place, these people and these tents, are our home.”

“I know that. I know that,” Xion whispered.

Suddenly, there was a burst of bright flame behind them, lighting up the dark sky and casting their long shadows out like wraiths over the swaying grass, and they heard several people shout Axel’s name accusingly. Then, Axel could be heard shouting, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” The, the moment between them was over then as Roxas and Xion dashed to grab Sora’s waiting hose and help put out the fire Axel had once again started before it consumed the entire area. That moron…

X X X

I made a bunch of changes because I didn’t need such a set plot anymore. Now I can play!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	2. Night, Afterwards

I’m having way too much fun with the circus.

X X X

Sora and Roxas, being twins, had always been close—they were two halves of the same whole, walking around in separate bodies, after all. Joining the circus hadn’t changed that. In fact, if anything, it had only strengthened it. Now, they slept in the same bed, back to back, always touching, and it was almost always a comfort to Roxas to have his beautiful twin so close to him. Almost always being the key words. It was only a problem on particularly exhausting nights like this…

When Sora was snoring. 

Roxas sandwiched the pillow over his head in an attempt to block out his twin’s even snores, but it was no use. Groaning, he slipped out of the bed, watching as Sora arched his back and scooted backwards in search of Roxas’s familiar warmth. For a moment, the sadness Roxas often felt for Sora came back full force, but he pushed it away. Sora was happy here. Sora would be happy anywhere, so long as Roxas was with him. They were that close, but… Roxas still felt that niggling finger of guilty sorrow in his heart.

“Sora,” he whispered.

Sora smiled faintly and murmured quietly in his sleep before resuming his loud snoring.

Roxas sighed, opened the door of the trailer he and his twin shared, and stepped out into the crisp night. All around them, the other trailers of the carnies were like a regular neighborhood. Some were lit up even this late at night, some flashed with the lights of televisions, and one even rocked with the throes of passion. Crouching beyond the edge of the circle of trailers was the dark remains of the carnival like a ruined city and beyond that was the sea of grass.

He sat down on the steps of the trailer with a sigh, staring out over the darkness like a king despairing over his ruined kingdom. 

Again, his mind returned to that girl he had seen in the Freak Tent. She really was beautiful… and she had stuck in his mind as if someone had super-glued her there. She had been like a fallen angel, so pale and slender with those beautiful cerulean eyes the same deep shade as Sora’s and she had looked so ashamed to be gawking at freaks with the common crowd. But, Roxas reminded himself, she was part of the common crowd. She was just a mark, a paying customer, the same sort of person who slowed down to pass an accident on the road. Then, why did his mind keep returned to the images of her?

“Can’t sleep?” Riku sat down beside him on the steps.

“Sora’s snoring. How about you?”

Riku smiled, his eyes casting a greenish glow over Roxas and spinning out a long strange shadow. “Nah. I normally have trouble sleeping after a show like that. It still… bothers me,” he confessed. 

“But you’ve been here so long,” Roxas murmured. “How can it still bother you?”

“Well, during the times when we’re not having a show and it’s just the carnies, I forget that I’m such a freak. Then, we do a show and it all comes back to me,” Riku said softly and twiddled his thumbs. “I just don’t like it, you know. There’s nothing I can do to erase my… freakishness. Xion could get her teeth fixed and Kairi could just quit bending around like she’s made out of rubber and even you could get plastic surgery, but even if I were to hide my eyes and pretend to be blind, I’d still be a freak because I was blind.”

“At least you’ve got Axel then. He’ll always be a pyromaniac and a moron and nothing with ever change that.”

Riku laughed. “That’s true.” Then, sharply, Riku leaned over and pecked a kiss on the undamaged side of Roxas’s face.

Roxas practically fell off the stairs in his hurry to slide out of Riku’s range. “Riku, come on. I keep telling you that I don’t,” he struggled for the words, “swing that way.”

Riku turned his face away, shamed. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just… this side of you is beautiful.”

Roxas put his hand over his crippled face, stepping backwards without knowing it until his back hit the cold metal of the trailer. Stunned, he glanced up at his looming home and then back at Riku’s stricken face. A bubble of sorrow and pain welled up in his chest at the sight of the other man’s face.

“You don’t have to back up like that, Roxas. I’m not going to rape you or anything,” Riku said softly and sadly. 

Roxas lowered his hand. “I know. I’m sorry. I just…”

Riku shook his head. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I shouldn’t have done that,” he stood up and started to walk away quickly.

“Riku! Wait!” Roxas protested.

Riku stopped and waited, but Roxas didn’t have anything to say to him. 

Finally, Riku half-turned, smiling dimly at Roxas. “Maybe you should invest in some earplugs,” was all he said before walking away and vanishing among the trailers. 

If it wasn’t for the brightness of his glowing eyes, Roxas would have thought Riku had vanished, but he could trace the other freak’s path by the glow of his lantern-like eyes. Roxas sighed heavily and sadly, kicking himself for making Riku feel so bad. They were friends, after all. It seemed that even among his fellow carnies, there were still problems. Nothing in this mortal world could ever be perfect—the freaks of the carnival were proof enough of the cruelty of the benign god of fate.

So, Roxas returned to his bed with Sora and let the sound of his twin snoring force him off to sleep.

…

“Namine? Namine, sweetheart, are you home yet?” Namine Water’s mother, Aerith, called up the stairs of their quaint little cottage. Aerith, like her daughter, was an artist. She had a neat little studio and gallery that she shared with a few other artists in this city, but their small family—consisting of Aerith, Namine, and Namine’s older brother, Hayner—stayed together in the cottage in the woods so Aerith could replenish her creativity before going to the city each day. “Namine? Did Selphie bring you back? Are you home?”

“Yes, Mom,” Namine called without looking up from her sketchbook and easel. Since going to the fair with Selphie and letting her friend drag her into the tent of freaks, Namine hadn’t been able to get the images out of her head of those poor people that Selphie had gawked and laughed at in good-natured fun. 

The z-shaped woman with her spine all bent. 

The beautiful dark haired girl with the vampire mouth. 

The pale-haired boy with radioactive glow-in-the-dark eyes.

The lovely blonde with those bright blue eyes and mangled face.

And outside the tent, there had been even more strange beauty to stare at. Namine would have liked to bring her mother to the fairgrounds to show her what she had seen, but she didn’t want to. These people… she felt as if they were all hers—a beautiful and strange discovery that she didn’t want to share with anyone, not even her mother who she was so close to. They were both artists, kindred spirits, and she knew her mother would find the same beauty and inspiration in them, but Namine just didn’t want to share. She alone had discovered this new medium of strange beauty and she loved it.

The beautiful bracingly-slender blue-eyed boy working the High Striker. 

The red-head with his tattooed cheeks breathing tongues of fire. 

The contortionist in her bare costume of lace and silk. 

The ringleader with his handsome scarred face.

“Namine, I’m going to head out and do some moonlight painting down by the lake. There were ducks or geese out there earlier. I heard them honking,” Aerith called up the stairs of the cottage that led to the loft that was Namine’s private bolt hole. “Do you want to come with me?”

“No! Thank you though. I’m a little busy and tired,” Namine called back to her mother. She pressed the pencil to her lower lip, staring at the half-blank creamy paper of her sketchpad. 

“Alright! Suit yourself!”

Namine closed her eyes and counted her mother’s footsteps until the door slammed closed with the wind. Then, she opened her eyes and looked into the half-drawn face of the beautiful blue-eyed young man with the mangled face. She had only drawn the perfect side of his face so far and it was beautiful. He was almost like a different person. It was then that she decided she just had to see him again, if only just to replenish the image of him in her mind.

…

After Namine fell asleep, her brother Hayner slithered into her room like a misplaced shadow. He knew she had gone to the carnival with Selphie that night and that Namine’s heart was too good and soft for her own good. What if one of those circus freaks had seduced her? He eyed his sister’s scattered artwork, taking in the strange new media she was playing with—the circus freaks, no doubt. One young man she had drawn a few times in particular and even colored lightly. The right side of his face looked like hamburger. 

“My sister can’t be with a circus freak,” he whispered. “It’s just wrong.”

X X X

I was going to wait until the next chapter to reveal Namine, but who was I kidding? That’s the one problem with Fanfiction. Once you describe a character, everyone knows who you’re talking about. There’s no fooling anyone…

Questions, comments, concerns?

REVIEW!


	3. The Death of Myrtle Corbin

Do me a favor everyone? Go and read this story: Never Surrender by WrinkleyWhale. And please, please, please leave a review. This is a person who really needs some support so please, EVERYONE, for me.

X X X

The Strife twins were woke by a loud rap on the trailer door at a little after seven. Roxas put his foot on Sora’s back and booted his twin out of bed, snuggling deeper into the covers. Sora had gotten more sleep than he had last night after all. Grumbling and growling, Sora scraped himself off the floor and went to the door.

“Leon?” There was surprise in Sora’s voice. “Yeah, Roxas is with me. Why? What’s the matter?” Now, there was nothing but concern in his twin’s sweet voice.

Roxas couldn’t make out what Leon said, but the surprise and concern in Sora’s voice was enough to get him out of bed and make him come to the door. “What’s going on?”

The ringmaster and creator of their carnival home, Squall Leonhart, was standing at the door. Shockingly, he wasn’t dressed yet. He was wearing a worn red-and-green plaid robe, moccasins, and his thick brown hair was as wild as Sora’s, suggesting that he had just rolled out of bed and dressed in a hurry. That was very strange for Leon. He was such a well-put-together man, always careful with his appearance and attitude. Behind Leon, several of the other carnies were bouncing out of their trailers as if Leon had knocked on their doors as well.

“Leon?” Sora asked. 

“I’m glad to see you’re both alright,” Leon said.

Roxas’s heart skipped a beat. “Leon, what happened?”

“Someone came into the grounds last night,” Leon said and glanced around warily, “and killed Myrtle Corbin (1).”

Roxas’s eyes widened and put his hand over his damaged face. “She’s one of the freaks.”

Leon nodded. “Our Four Legged Lady,” he agreed. “I need to go. I want to make sure everyone is alright and accounted for before the police gets here. It’s going to be enough of a media circus without the law having fun with who and what we are.” He took a step away and then stopped, turning back to the twins. “Sora, would you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Gather up all the freaks somewhere and just stay with them,” Leon said. 

Sora nodded. “Of course.”

Then, Leon hurried off into the grounds, knocking on doors and explaining what had happened. 

Sora and Roxas dressed in a hurry—throwing clothing at each other, yanking down shirts, pulling up jeans, and mismatching socks. Roxas shoved his feet into his shoes and handed Sora his. Then, he grabbed Sora’s hand and pulled him down the stairs, catching him when he tripped at the bottom. They stood close together, arms holding each other’s elbows with that closeness only twins could share so that they stood inside each other’s shadows.

“We should split up,” Roxas said. “It’ll be faster that way.”

Sora’s fingers dug in. “No. I’d die if anything happened to you. Please, stay with me.”

Roxas met his twin’s eyes and nodded. 

Together, they went through the grounds only a few steps behind Leon and gathered up Roxas’s fellow freaks. Sora decided that it would be best to gather in the largest and most comfortable space since they were quite a few in number now that they were all together. They gathered in the cafeteria tent, crowded around tables and drinking coffee just to soothe their nerves with Sora guarding the door until Leon arrived with the police. The tent was filled with nervous chatter and thick uneasiness.

Xion’s hand closed around Roxas’s elbow. “What’s going on?”

“Didn’t Leon tell you?”

“You and Sora got to me first.”

“Myrtle Corbin is dead.”

Xion’s eyes widened, her vampire mouth falling open. “What?” she breathed.

Roxas nodded.

“Who would want to kill a circus freak?” Xion whispered, trembling.

“Lots of people,. It could’ve been anyone with a Hitler Complex (2), ridding the world of what they deem scum,” Riku supplied and came to stand behind her. He placed both large hands on her shoulders. “It’s going to be alright, Xion.”

Kairi, her normally half-dressed body was actually covered, approached them. “Guys, I’m hearing a lot of different things. Does anyone know exactly what’s going on?”

Xion’s blue eyes widened and her face was dangerously close to hysterical. “Someone killed Myrtle Corbin. I thought we were safe here!”

Riku put his hand over her mouth and hugged her close. “Xion, take a breath.”

Roxas pulled Kairi into their group. “Leon told us what happened. Someone snuck into the grounds and killed Myrtle Corbin. The police are on their way this morning, but Leon looked really nervous. I think he knows more than he’s saying.”

“God,” Kairi breathed. “This is supposed to be a place for tolerance. Freaks in everyday life are fair game, but freaks in the circus… We’re supposed to be safe here.”

Xion sobbed and Riku embraced her tightly, his glowing eyes going into Roxas so sharply that he once again felt a stab of guilt. Riku was a nice guy, just a little forward, and Roxas had nothing to be afraid of, but mistrust of everyone except Sora, his twin and his other half—that was a hard habit to break. 

Kairi gingerly touched Roxas’s elbow. “What about Sora?”

“What about him?” Roxas asked, his eyes widening.

“If someone is targeting circus freaks, aren’t you afraid for him?”

“Sora’s not a freak,” Roxas said sharply and pulled away from her.

“I know that,” Kairi said with a wry smile, “But… think about your situation, Roxas. I know you sleep together. If someone comes into your trailer to,” she hesitated, “to hurt you and sees you sleeping with Sora. What do you think they’re going to think?”

Roxas bit his lip. 

It was a terrible picture to outside eyes. Sora was so beautiful and Roxas was so ugly. Then, they were twins. To anyone who just assumed without knowing, not only would the union of freakish and beautiful be terrible enough, but it would be coupled with incest between twin brothers.

“You don’t think anyone would hurt Sora, do you?”

Kairi glanced at the twin guarding the door with a smile of reassurance and her face was terribly sad. She sighed heavily and confessed, “I don’t want to say it lest the terrible things be given power by being spoken aloud, but yes, I do think someone would hurt Sora.”

Roxas sat down heavily and put his face in his hands, feeling the broken crags of his ruined face beneath his fingers. What could he do? He couldn’t send Sora away. Neither one of them had any home to go back to. They were all they had left in the entire world.

Kairi put her hand on his shoulder lightly, brushed her thumb over the exposed expanse of collarbone, and then turned away. Roxas watched as she composed her face into a smile, sidled up to Sora, and proceeded to distract him from the bad situation by making him blush like a child. She really was a remarkable girl—a true gem despite the rock she had been pulled from. She was good for Sora, but Roxas wasn’t good for Sora anymore. Even so, they were twins. They would never be able to be apart.

There was a harsh knock on the tent’s door and all the nervous chatter in the mess tent stopped abruptly. For a moment, everyone was frozen, even Sora, and no one opened the door. The knock came again, sharp and impatient along with a cry of, “Open up! This is the police!”

They could all hear Leon shouting at the cops, but the police paid him no mind. To them, even Leon was a circus freak and they cared hardly anything.

Finally, Sora pulled open the door to let in the men in blue and the start of a very long day came into play.

…

Namine had just set down her sketchpad and pencil and was headed downstairs for a snack when Hayner started shouting for her. Apple still in her mouth, she dashed into the living room only to find her big brother sitting on the couch, riveted by the TV. It was tempting to slap him for getting her blood pounding for no reason, but Namine knew her mother would frown on that so she restrained herself though not without some trouble.

“What?” she snapped at him.

“What was the carnival you went to last night?”

“Leon’s. Why?”

“Check it out!”

Namine sat down beside him and nearly choked on the apple like Snow White. She recognized the photograph of the young woman on the screen as one of the freaks she had seen just the night before. She had been murdered in her trailer on the fairgrounds. 

“Was anyone else killed?” Namine asked.

Hayner shook his head. “Nah. Just her. It’s freaky, isn’t it? Four legs?”

Namine stood up. “Dogs and cats have four legs.”

“But—”

“And you, dear brother, have three.”

Hayner opened his mouth to protest, but Namine had already walked back up the stairs to her loft.

X X X

(1) Myrtle Corbin, the Four Legged Lady, was actually a real circus freak. Her bio: Josephine “Myrtle” Corbin was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee in 1868. She was born a dipygus, meaning that she had two separate pelvises side by side from the waist down. The extra legs were part of a twin that did not split correctly. Each of her smaller inner legs was paired with one of her outer legs. She was said to be able to move her inner legs, but they were too weak for walking. 

(2) The Hitler Complex isn’t a real thing, but it seems like it should be, right?

Questions, comments, concerns?


	4. Mystery: A Morning of Fire

I realize the police are a little off, but relax. All in good time.

X X X

The police spent the rest of the day acting more like tourists enjoying a backstage pass and only pretending they were “investigating.” They took a statement from each of the carnies, looking for all the world like they didn’t believe a single word they were told. Then, at the end of the day, they took away Myrtle’s poor bloody body and left without really accomplishing anything. The coroner was sure to had an audience when he began to autopsy on Myrtle.

Sora, being who he was, had worked himself up into quite a state by the end of the day and slammed his way through the trailer he shared with Roxas. “I don’t believe this! Those—those—those—”

Roxas had been watching his twin slam back and forth for about fifteen minutes. Now, once again, he supplied Sora with the necessary swear word. “Assholes…”

“Exactly!” Sora shouted. “I can’t believe it! They treated us like we were suspects! As if we would ever kill one of our own! Those—those—”

“Bastards,” Roxas supplied. “Sora, you’re going to have to stop soon. I’m running out of nasty words.”

Sora slammed himself down on the mattress beside his twin. “Did you not see the way they were looking at everyone? As if you’re all some sort of freaks!”

Roxas put his hand on his twin’s shoulder. “Sora, I know you don’t see it, but we are freaks.”

Sora threw his arms around Roxas and hugged him tightly. “No, you’re not,” he mumbled. 

Roxas patted his back.

The energy abruptly drained from Sora’s body and he nestled in his twin’s arms. “This sucks, Roxas. Just when we thought we were safe,” he whispered, “then something like this happens again.”

“It’s not our fault.”

“These things don’t normally happen, Roxas,” Sora whispered. “It must be…”

“That was over a long time ago and I’ve been justly punished,” Roxas whispered.

Sora stroked his brother’s damaged face. “If you say so,” he said finally. “Leon said tonight’s been cancelled and that we should all be careful.”

“I know.”

Sora was quiet a moment before speaking, “Roxas?”

“Hmm?”

“Promise me you won’t go outside alone again tonight.”

Sora had been sleeping. How did he know? 

“I wasn’t alone,” Roxas protested. “I was with Riku.”

Sora tightened his arms around Roxas. “Please, just don’t. I couldn’t bear to lose you, Roxas.”

Roxas sighed and squeezed his twin’s small body against his chest. “I won’t, Sora, okay? You won’t lose me.”

“Thank you.” 

Then, smiling softly, Sora fell asleep. Roxas pulled off Sora’s shoes, struggled him out of his jacket, and tucked him into their bed. Then, he milled around in the trailer, thinking of what Kairi had told him. What if someone tried to hurt Sora again? What would he do? Finally, Roxas pushed those thoughts away, crawled in beside his twin, and pressed his back solidly against Sora’s warmth. It didn’t matter. As before, they would protect each other to the end, to the bitter end, as they had before.

…

The next morning, Sora and Roxas woke up to screaming. 

“What’s going on?” Sora shouted, his eyes bright cerulean wide with panic. 

“Outside!” Roxas leaped from the bed in his boxers, charged out the door of their trailer, and leaped down the stairs. 

Sora was so close behind him that they nearly collided when Roxas skidded to a stop. The heat was atrocious, but the flames were low and flickering. On the other side of the wall of fire, Axel and Riku were frantically running a bucket brigade while Xion targeted the flames with a hose. Roxas whirled Sora around, shoved him back into their trailer, and started a bucket brigade on the other side of the wall. Kairi joined a few minutes later, adding another hose to the mix. 

Even with the added assistance of Kairi’s hose, it still took a full ten minutes to get the fire out. Then, the six of them stood around the scorched grass, panting. Then, five sets of angry eyes lifted to Axel and growled out his name in frustration. Putting out a fire was not a good start to any morning.

Axel raised his hands, palms up. “It wasn’t me!”

“Who else could it have been?” Riku demanded.

“I swear it wasn’t! I woke up—”

“Planning to start a fire,” Xion broke in.

“I wasn’t—”

“I saw the matches,” she snapped.

Axel’s face turned red. “Okay, so I was, but I did not start this!”

“Then who did?” Roxas demanded. 

“I don’t know! But it wasn’t me! I got up and it was already started. I mean, yeah, I watched it burn for a little while, but I didn’t start it!”

“Then who did?” Riku snapped at the redhead. 

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t me!”

Sora sighed. “I think he’s telling the truth.”

For a moment, they all stared at Sora with wide eyes and then looked back at Axel dubiously. The redhead looked so vehement about it that they couldn’t help but believe him. But if their resident pyromaniac hadn’t started the fire, than who had?

“Sorry, Axel,” Kairi said and began rolling up the hose. “You have a bad track record.”

“I understand that,” Axel said sheepishly. He produced a box of matches, struck one, and watched it burn.

Xion sprayed him with the hose. “Knock it off!”

Sputtering, Axel threw down the wet matches and hustled off to his trailer.

Xion turned her bright blue eyes to Roxas, eyed him strangely for a moment, grinned, and said with a smirk, “Nice skivvies, Roxas.”

For a moment, Roxas just stared at her. Then, Sora snickered beside him and he abruptly looked down. Right, he had jumped out of bed and immediately started the bucket brigade with Sora. He hadn’t even pulled on a robe before dashing out of their trailer. Now, alerted to this singular embarrassing fact, Roxas let out a feminine shriek and dove back into the trailer. He could hear Sora and everyone else laughing even as the door of the trailer slammed shut.

…

Sora sat on the bed while Roxas cursed his way into some jeans, watching his twin closely with a smile on his face. “It’s okay, Roxas,” Sora said with a grin. 

“No, it’s not,” Roxas said coldly. “No one but you has ever seen…” He pulled on a white t-shirt over his damaged chest and pressed his hand over it firmly. The ruin that marred the right side of his face also encompassed the right half on his chest to the hip, fingers of scar tissue stretching out over his sternum and shoulder.

Sora stood up, crossed the space between them, and laid his hands softly on the right side of Roxas. “It doesn’t matter. Everyone was making fun of you for being in your underwear, not for the way you look. We’re all strange-looking here.”

Roxas pulled away. “You’re not, Sora.”

Sora smiled wryly. “Thanks for that, Roxas. Did I ever actually thank you?”

Roxas yanked on a hoodie over his shoulders, stormed to the door of the trailer, but hesitated in the threshold when he felt Sora’s eyes on him. “You didn’t have to,” he whispered. Then, he slammed out into the early morning.

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?


	5. Namine's First Arrival

Hmm, I have nothing to report.

X X X

Leon decided that they shouldn’t all continue not working out of fear and wind up starving to death for lack of money. The show must go on… so long as everyone was careful. As of right now, the buddy system was officially in effect. Someone had even been assigned to work the High Striker with Sora and Leon himself would sit inside the Freak Tent, watching over everyone closely. They were carnies, after all, and no one fought harder to protect their own. 

Like this, the night after Myrtle Corbin’s murder began and it ended the same way. Nothing bad had happened.

Leon left to walk the perimeter with the strongman, leaving Riku in charge of getting all the freaks safely back to their trailers. Roxas and Xion started helping everyone down from their stands and passing them off to Riku. It was a slow system, but it was worth it just to know that everyone would be safe. 

Sora pushed the tent flap aside and entered alone, smiling broadly. “Hey all. How’s it going?”

Xion turned and opened her vampire mouth to greet Sora, but Roxas cut her off.

“Sora, where’s your buddy?” Roxas demanded.

“It’s okay, Roxas, really. The High Striker is right outside.”

“It’s not okay,” Roxas protested. “What if something had happened to you?” He grabbed his twin’s upper arm, digging in his fingers.

Sora winced and pulled at his brother’s hand. “But nothing did. I’m alright.” He bit his lip. “Roxas… that hurts.”

Abruptly, Roxas released Sora and took several steps backwards, watching as Sora rubbed the bruise forming on his pale flesh. 

“Sora, I’m… I’m so sorry…”

Sora’s bright blue eyes glistened with unshed tears, but he choked them back. “It’s okay. I’m alright.”

“Jesus, Roxas,” Xion put in and went over to inspect Sora’s arm. “What’s your problem tonight? You left a major mark on him.”

“Xion, no!” Sora whispered urgently, but the damage was done.

Roxas’s face went white-pale, he turned, and ran from the tent.

“What’d I say?” Xion asked, staring dumbfounded after Roxas.

Sora shook his head and pulled his sleeve down as best he could over the bruises left by Roxas’s fingers. “It’s nothing,” he said softly.

Riku, carrying their z-shaped woman in his arms, came up behind them. “Roxas has been a little… volatile lately. Are you okay, Sora?”

Sora nodded, keeping his eyes down. 

“Why don’t you help me out? You, Xion, and I will make one big trip to get everyone back into their trailers,” Riku offered.

Sora nodded, blinked his eyes several times to clear them, and forced a smile onto his face. “That sounds good. Thanks Riku,” he murmured and let the larger youth sling his arm around Sora’s shoulders and hug him close. 

…

Namine didn’t know what she had expected when she snuck back to the fairgrounds after a murder had been committed there. If that had happened in her neighborhood, police would have been crawling everywhere, but there wasn’t a single policeman to be seen anywhere at the carnival. In fact, if she hadn’t seen on the news about the murder, she never would have known. The grounds were exceptionally ordinary, only patrolled by the resident strongman and the owner. Since Namine was small and fair and increasingly innocent-looking, they didn’t even spare her a glance. 

She waited until they had gone around the corner of the Funnel Cake stand and then clambered up and over the chain link fence that locked the carnies from the outside world. Landing in her knees, she hesitated. With what had happened, everyone was probably one edge. What if they hurt her by mistake? But she shook her head and trucked on. She had to take a picture of that young man with the ruined face so she could preserve the image in her memory.

Silently, creeping like a ghost, Namine made her way through the carnival in search of the Freak Tent. When she finally got there, she found it deserted, but what had she expected? These were people, after all, not animals. Why would they be left locked up in the tent after the show had ended? But now she had no idea where to look for the young man. Sure, there were trailers, but it wasn’t as if they were labeled. She had no way of knowing which one was his or if he had a roommate that was big and scary.

She ducked back out of the tent, canvas bag with her camera and sketchpad banging against her thigh as she hurried along. She had no idea where she was going or what she was looking for, but something was telling her not to turn back yet. She couldn’t give up. What if someone killed that freak and then she never got to see his face again? What a horrible thought, she chided herself and gave her cheeks a little slap to get her mind back on track. 

Then, she ducked beneath the rope holding up the red-and-white-striped Big Top and ran smack into the beautiful skinny young man who worked the High Striker. He jumped back, looking as surprised as she felt, and Namine stumbled back a few steps in shock. 

“Wait!” he said suddenly, reaching out.

She took another step back but then realized what troubled him. The rope kissed her knees and took her legs out from under her. She closed her eyes, throwing her arms out to try to break her fall, but the ground never met her. Instead, she felt someone grab her wrist and lift her back to her feet, practically dangling. Just the tips of her toes could reach the ground.

“Sora, who’s your friend?” a girl’s voice rang out. 

“I don’t know,” the young man said. 

“I thought we closed up. What’s she doing here?” a second man’s voice broke in.

The ground returned beneath Namine’s feet, but whoever had caught her didn’t let go of her wrist. She opened her eyes and took in the sight around her. She was absolutely surrounded by freaks, not that she was complaining since that was what she had come here to find, but she didn’t see the young man with the ruined face among them.

“Well, who are you?” the man holding her wrist asked. He had sheets of silver-white hair and big literally-glowing green eyes, but his face was handsome and lovely, just as she had remembered it. The only thing she hadn’t realized was just how big he was since he had been seated on the platform. His hand could have wrapped around her wrist twice and he towered a good three heads over her small body.

“We’re not going to hurt you. Riku, let her go,” the other young man said. Actually, upon close inspection, he couldn’t have been a freak unless they filed him away under freakishly beautiful. The High Striker worker was about Namine’s size and age with the most beautiful porcelain doll face and bright blue eyes she had ever seen in her life. When he smiled, it transformed his face. 

“Sora, you are way too nice for your own good.” The girl was one of the freaks, Namine recognized her. She was the ‘Vampiress,’ the lovely young lady with sharp fangs hidden by her light petal-pink lips. She had short night-dark hair and tanned caramel-colored skin so she couldn’t possibly be a real vampire. “What if she’s the one who killed Myrtle?”

That question, Namine’s heart stopped beating. “I didn’t—” she began but a snort of laughter from the glowing-eyed man holding her silenced her voice.

“Really, Xion?” he laughed. “I never took you as that stupid.”

The vampire-girl glared.

“I remember seeing you here the other night,” the young man the girl had called Sora asked. “Who are you?” 

“I didn’t kill anyone,” was all that managed to come out of her mouth.

The glowing-eyed man laughed again. “We know that. Look at you. You couldn’t kill a fly.”

“Riku, come on,” Sora protested. “Stop picking on her. Who are you, sweetheart?”

“I am not a child,” Namine snapped. 

Sora smiled wryly.

“My name is Namine. Namine Waters,” and because it had gotten her out of a few scrapes before, she added, “I’m an artist.”

“Are you related to Aerith Waters?” the vampire-girl Xion asked.

Namine nodded.

“I’ve seen her work. It’s beautiful, but I’ve never heard of you.”

“I’m just starting out. I need a debut piece, something really brilliant,” Namine said and pulled her wrist from Riku’s grip. She dug out her sketchpad and opened to a drawing she had made of the circus freaks. “I was thinking… I’d actually really like to draw you guys.”

“Us?” Sora repeated.

“Well, not you specifically,” she said sheepishly. “I really want to draw him as my debut.” And she showed them a half-finished drawing of the youth with the ruined face. “I don’t know why, but his face really speaks to me.”

“That’s my brother, Roxas,” Sora gasped.

“Roxas?” Namine repeated, tasting the name. Then, she scribbled it down on the portrait. “So,” she began nervously and tucked some platinum hair behind her ear. “Could I see him?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Sora said.

“Is he… dangerous?”

Riku barked another laugh.

“Hardly,” Xion threw in. 

Sora silenced them both with a look. It was then that Namine saw the fingerprints of bruises on his upper arm, peeking out beneath the short sleeve of his shirt. “It’s not that he’s… dangerous, but Roxas is… strange. He’s very insecure about his scars. I don’t think he’d want the world to see them.”

Namine protested. “But I’ll draw them beautiful. I love to find beauty in the most unlikely of places…” she trailed off because Sora was shaking his head.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly.

Namine bit her lip, looking down at the ground.

Riku put his hand lightly on her shoulder. “I’d be happy to find someone else willing to pose for you, Namine, but you should give up on Roxas.”

Xion broke in. “I’d pose for you, but I’m not really an unlikely beauty. Vampires are sexy, no?”

Namine pulled away from these kind people. “No. Thank you though,” she said softly. “I guess… I should go then.”

“I’ll walk you,” Sora said, putting his hand lightly against her lower back to guide her and Namine wondered if she looked unsteady on her feet. 

“And I’ll walk you,” Xion added and gave Sora a knowing look.

“Thanks,” Namine said softly. Her voice sounded as if it was coming from a great distance away. Why did she sound so lost? Just because she had been denied the circus freak she so desperately wanted a photograph of so she could paint him? Had she become that much of a child, especially when she had always prided herself in being so much more mature than her brother.

“Riku, you’re okay on your own?” Sora asked as they walked back towards the gates.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said nonchalantly. “Do me a favor though, when you come back, just catch up with me.”

“Definitely,” Sora agreed. 

Then, Riku and the rest of the freaks were gone from view as the Midway and its games came between them. Between Sora and Xion, Namine allowed herself to be led back out of the fairgrounds. Sora gave her a boost over the fence (they didn’t want Leon to know that someone had slipped under his guard so easily), smiled and waved like they were old friends and said he hoped to see her again, but the moment Namine’s feet hit the ground on the other side of the fence, she took off running.

X X X

Aww, poor Namine. And poor Sora. Roxas, you’re a meanie.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	6. Conversations With and About Roxas

I have to say… I’m really proud of myself for all the deepness in everyone relationships in this story. I think it’s a new level of good for me! I’m so proud! Now, I’ll quit tooting my own horn and get on with the chapter already. (I don’t think anyone reads my author’s notes anyway. *mumbles and grumbles*)

X X X

Xion and Sora caught up with Riku after that and helped him finish getting everyone safely into their trailers and checking to make sure the doors locked securely. Then, their mission finished, they stopped off at Leon’s Airstream to tell him that they had personally packaged everyone into their rolling homes safely. Then, the trio walked each other back to their own trailers. 

Sora waved to Riku just before he closed the door, but he missed the look of concern that crossed the older boy’s features.

Roxas was lying in the bed, snarled up in all the covers as if hiding himself in a cocoon. Roxas hadn’t done that since what had happened—as if he believed that he would come back out as a beautiful butterfly instead of the ruined youth he was.

Sora sat down beside his twin and started peeling back the layers of the latest onion. When he finally found Roxas’s face underneath all that mess, he whispered, “Roxas, I’m okay. You don’t have to do this. Not again.”

Roxas rolled over, his bright blue eyes gleaming in the low light of the small travel trailer they shared. He sat up and put his arms around his twin tightly. “Sora, I’m so sorry,” he whispered into the side of Sora’s throat. “I’m sorry.”

Sora patted his back. “It’s okay, Roxas.”

“It’s not okay,” Roxas whispered. “Sora, what if I’m… what if I’m turning into them?”

Sora tensed in his twin’s arms. “Y-you aren’t. You could never be like them, Roxas.”

“But I hurt you tonight.”

“You were just afraid to lose me. I understand. It’s okay.”

“But Sora—”

“Roxas, it doesn’t matter. You didn’t do it on purpose,” he whispered. Sora cupped his twin’s face firmly, forcing their twin blue orbs to meet. “Roxas, it’s okay.”

He didn’t respond, only held Sora’s body as close as he could, his fingers pressing into Sora’s back. Patiently, Sora held his twin, stroking his golden hair, until everything around them ceased to exist. They lay down together, still pressed close, as they used to when they were still frightened children. Roxas stared into Sora’s eyes and he into his. Then, the dark night outside seeping into the trailer and the twin brothers fell asleep.

…

Xion spent a long time brushing her teeth—they literally put food on the table, after all. She had to take care of what made her money. If she had been a prostitute, she probably would have worked out, but it had never gotten that far for her after her parents threw her out when she refused to get her teeth fixed. Lucky for her, she had run into Leon and just happened to smile at the scarred man. Now, all she had to do was brush her teeth.

She had just finished when there was a knock on the door of the trailer.

Xion stuck her head out of the bathroom. “Kairi, can you get that?”

Kairi had folded herself up into the world’s most extreme yoga position so that her head was almost literally up her butt. “Would you mind, Xion? I’m in a bit of tight position.”

Xion shook her head, wondering how on earth Kairi managed some of those positions. Flexible was one thing, but this was just ridiculous. “Sure, I’ll get it.” She hesitated at the door. “What about… what happened to Myrtle?”

Like she had been shot, Kairi jolted onto her feet and came to Xion’s side. For a moment, the girls stood there together, unsure of what to do. The knock came again and they jolted, grabbing a hold of each other. They had both been through a lot in their young lives, but death had never been closer than it was at this moment.

“Ladies, you can relax. It’s Axel. Come on, let me in.”

Kairi let her breath out in a relieved rush. 

Xion yanked open the door and barred it with her hands on her hips. “Axel! What are you thinking? You heard Leon. We’re all supposed to be using the buddy system. Where’s your buddy?”

“Come on, Xion. I’m a big and formidable guy.”

Xion folded her arms over her chest and stared him down.

Kairi poked her head into the warzone. “Xion, just let him in. You know he won’t go away until he gets what he wants.”

Axel grinned, but it wasn’t as cute as it normally was. “Thanks, Kairi. You’re a lifesaver—”

“Wait!” Xion stuck her hand out. “Relinquish all matches, lighters, and other such fire starters.”

“Aw, Xion, come on.”

“Uh-uh, fork ‘em over!”

Sighing, Axel fished his hands in his pockets and dumped a fistful of lighters, a few packs of matches, one box of long matches, and even a wad of pocket link. “Happy now?”

“What’s with the lint?”

“It makes a fantastic fire starter (1).”

Kairi sighed and closed the door. “You two are ridiculous.”

Xion rolled her eyes and leaned on the wall. “What do you want, Axel?”

“Actually,” Axel confessed. “I’m worried. Do you think the person who killed Myrtle Corbin could be one of us?”

“What?” Xion shouted.

“Axel, what on earth makes you say that?” Kairi asked, putting her hand over Xion’s mouth.

“It’s Sora,” he said softly.

“Sora would never hurt a fly.”

He shook his head. “Not that. It’s just… I saw bruises on Sora’s arm today.”

Xion lowered her eyes.

“Bruises?” Kairi repeated. “He does work the High Striker. He could have hurt himself. It could be nothing.”

Axel shook his head. “No, the bruises looked like fingers.”

“It’s Roxas,” Xion whispered.

“What?” Kairi squeaked out and two sets of eyes turned to Xion in disbelief.

“You’re telling me that Roxas hurts Sora?” Axel repeated.

Xion shook her head. “Not intentionally, I don’t think.” 

“What happened?” Kairi asked.

“But when Sora came into the Freak Tent today, he was alone and Roxas kind of freaked out. He grabbed Sora’s arm really hard, hard enough to leave bruises.”

“Why though?”

“Because Sora came in alone. Roxas wanted to know where Sora’s buddy was, but Sora had been working the High Striker just outside. I didn’t think that was so bad, but Roxas did. He’s just… really scared. I think Sora’s all he has left in this world. You see how close they are,” Xion said.

“Still,” Axel murmured. “That’s no reason.”

“We don’t know what they’ve been through, guys,” Kairi put in. “We’ve all had our own personal hells—”

“Axel’s is self-inflicted,” Xion muttered, sliding him a glare. “You fire bug!”

“I don’t suffer, I enjoy every minute of it,” Axel said cheekily.

“Anyway,” Kairi said with a glare at both of them like a mother to her children. “We don’t know what those two went through. We have no right to judge them.”

“It’s true. What do we know about Sora and Roxas?” Axel said suddenly. “I don’t know anything about them, do you?”

Xion shook her head, but said lamely, “I know they’re twins.”

“Everyone knows that,” Axel snapped.

“No one knows that. They’re fraternal so they look nothing alike and then to top it off Roxas’s face is…” Xion waved her hand around.

“Could you two stop it?” Kairi broke in and folded her arms across her chest. “They’re our friends, for crying out loud. We don’t need to hold a conspiracy meeting at night. If we want to know something, we should just ask them.”

Axel looked away, his green eyes dancing sadly.

Xion bit her lip. “I know, Kairi, but they’re… secretive.”

“They’re our friends,” Kairi said sternly, “and that’s all that matters.” She stared the two down, daring them to argue and when no one rose to the challenge, she sighed heavily. “Now, let’s go. All three of us will walk back to Axel’s trailer that way Xion and I can walk back here together. Axel, I don’t want to see you sneaking over here without a buddy again. I mean it.”

“I won’t,” Axel assured Kairi with a smile. Then, he turned to Xion, flashed her a melting smile, and wrapped his long fingers around her hand. “Can I have my matches back?”

Captivated, she stared up into his handsome face, into that meltingly sexy-sweet smile, hardly even noticing as his fingers persuaded her hand to open and started to pluck out a lighter. Abruptly coming back to her senses, Xion half-shouted, “No! No more fire for you!”

…

Namine was asleep at her easel, something that hadn’t happened since she was a child. The entire canvas had been covered in thick smeary cobalt paint and speckled with the beginnings of glittery stars. Aerith smiled softly at the sight. Then, she came into her daughter’s studio-bedroom, scooped her up from her slumped position at the easel, and laid her down in her bed. She took off Namine’s shoes, pulled the thick patchwork coverlet over her small body, smoothed back her pale hair, and kissed her cheek. 

“Sleep tight, sweetie,” Aerith whispered.

X X X

(1) Majorly true! Lint is the World’s Best Fire Starter! Say goodbye to newspaper and lighter fluid.

I’m thinking I might take this story down and make it into original fiction because the more I get into it, the more original it becomes. I’d love to publish something like this, so   
stay tuned to see what I do.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	7. The Antique Carousel and the Artist

I have to say, sometimes I feel like I’m rewriting the classic “The Man Without A Face” which is SO FANTASTIC because half of Roxas’s face is mangled too! (But I’d suggest the book because the movie really messed it up.) 

X X X

As a testimony to the Golden Age of circuses and fairs, Leon was one of the few ringmasters to own one of the original hand-carved carousels in Country Fair Style circa 1910. The craftsmanship of the old wooden horses was amazing, so ornate and beautifully carved that Leon’s carnival often attracted attention just because of the carousel’s presence. The fairy lights and barley twist poles gleamed in the early morning light as Roxas made his way through the gate and onto the carousel platform. He walked among the horses and menagerie figures, always on the romance side so he could see every gorgeous detail of the flying painted ponies. He made his way to the lead horse, just in front of the carousel’s single bench, and ran his hand over the lovingly-restored flank of the carved pony.

“Roxas? It’s awfully early for you to be up,” Leon’s voice rang across the carousel, startling Roxas.

“Sorry, Leon. I didn’t know you were here,” Roxas called and circled the carousel until he found his boss. “What are you doing?”

“Old carousels like this with the horses made out of basswood take a lot of upkeep. I always polish and maintain the horses every morning after a show,” Leon explained and wiped his hands on a rag. “If I want to keep this carousel, I have to take care of it.”

“It’s beautiful,” Roxas supplied. 

“It is,” Leon agreed. “There’s not another one like it in the world. Each horse is one of a kind, hand-carved.”

“You’re lucky to have something like this.”

“It’s been in my family for generations. My father even helped carve the hippocampus,” Leon tilted his chin in the direction, “that one.”

Roxas turned to look at the half-horse, half-fish jumper a few rows back from the lead horse and carriage bench. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s one of my treasures,” Leon told Roxas.

“One of?”

Leon smiled softly. “You all are my treasures, you know.”

Roxas looked away. “What made you do all this, Leon? You know, for us?”

Leon’s dark eyes flashed and he put his hand on Roxas’s shoulder. “I was a freak myself once and there would have been no place for me to go save the carnival. I was lucky that my father was so accepting. When he saw that I wasn’t going to fit in anywhere, he started carving this carousel and when it was finished, he helped me start a traveling circus for other people like me.” He squeezed Roxas’s shoulder. “You of all people know how much of the world is based on what you see. Take even the carousel. The outside row of horses are the most decorative because no one sees past them.”

“You’re a good person, Leon.”

“I try,” Leon said with a small smile.

Roxas hesitated, his mouth opening and then closing.

“Something on your mind, Roxas?”

He wet his lips and forced it out. “Do you think the police will ever find out who killed Myrtle Corbin?”

Leon sighed heavily and sat down on one of the horses. “Take a seat, Roxas. I knew one of you would come to ask me eventually.”

Roxas sat down across from Leon, touching the carved mane trussed with flowers of the horse beneath him. 

“The police have already stopped looking for Myrtle’s killer,” Leon confessed. “We’re circus people. No one cares about people like us except people like us. The only thing we can do is watch each other’s backs and keep moving. Eventually, things will become safe again.”

“How can they do that? What about justice? What about Myrtle’s parents?”

“They won’t even claim the body. I have to go pick up her cremains later today and throw them into the sea like she wanted.”

“That’s not fair!”

Leon met Roxas’s eyes. “Tell me, Roxas, would your parents come for your body?”

Roxas looked as if Leon had struck him.

“Would they even come for Sora’s body?” Leon continued. “Would they, Roxas?”

Trembling, Roxas shook his head. “No… they wouldn’t…”

“You see, son, we’re all like that. No one cares about people like us except people like us.” Leon squeezed Roxas’s shoulder lightly. “But that’s okay, we all have each other, don’t we?”

Roxas nodded slowly.

“Why don’t you go get some breakfast and have some coffee? I know it’s hard to hear, but we all have to hear that at some time or another. It gets easier after you know how the world works, but we normally don’t find out this way, you know…”

Numbly, Roxas walked away from the beautiful carousel.

…

In the mess tent, everyone had gathered at a single table. Sora waved to Roxas when he saw his twin and Roxas noticed that Sora had already made him up a plate of breakfast. Gratefully, Roxas slid in beside his brother and let Sora pat his back as he wrapped his cold hands around the Styrofoam cup of coffee. Axel was forlornly picking at his toast, Xion grinning gleefully, and Kairi just shaking her head. Riku, his eyes casting shadows, was watching the twins out of the corner of his eyes. Since Sora was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, the bruises on his arm were safely hidden, but Riku still watched his body closely for signs of any other hidden injuries.

“What the matter, Axel?” Riku said suddenly.

“Mean, mean Xion took all my matches away,” he said sadly.

Xion only grinned wider. “It’s for the greater good.”

“Come on, Xion, look at him. Don’t you feel sorry for him?” Kairi put in.

“Nope! Not a bit! Just like he didn’t feel sorry for lighting the stage curtains on fire.”

“I said I was sorry for that!” Axel protested. 

“I never said you didn’t. I just said you didn’t feel sorry about it,” Xion said cheekily. 

Axel grumbled darkly into his coffee. 

Sora laughed, his face lighting up, and an answering smile curved Riku’s lips.

“Well, I think it’s a good idea,” Roxas said and crunched into his toast. “I’m tired of waking up to put out fires.”

Axel grumbled some more. “I’m a pyromaniac. What do you want from me?”

“We want you to stop lighting things on fire,” Kairi said plainly and sipped her coffee. 

Axel put his face into his mug of cooling coffee and ignored his so-called friends, glowering at them over the rim of the white Styrofoam cup with his bright green eyes occasionally. Conversations like these, this early in the morning, brought new meaning to the phrase ‘Who needs enemies with friends like these?’ They only laughed at his plight and Xion even teased him with his own lighter, grinning like the imp she was with those sharp vampire fangs of hers.

…

Try as she might to find a new debut medium, Namine’s head was filled with the images of the Leon’s sideshow freaks. Since meeting up with Sora, Xion, and Riku the day before, her mind was just assaulted with images and ideas. Sitting at her easel, painting like a maniac, she watched the shapes splatter across the canvas from the tip of her paintbrush like spilled blood. 

For the first time ever, an image of herself came out on the painting. 

It was herself, surrounded by the beautiful-ugly circus freaks, as white and pale as any angel or ghost. But something was wrong with it… She looked terrified, cowering, her arms wrapped around her body, while Sora reached out gently in guidance. Even knowing what he was doing didn’t change the fact that his hand looked like claws. These people weren’t monsters so why had they come out that way? What was wrong with her?

Namine tossed her soiled brushes into the cup of dirty water and got up from the easel. She paced the room, returned to the painting, glowered at it, and then hurled it off the stand. The canvas clattered in the hallway and she heard her brother’s answering squawk of surprise.

“Oh, Hayner, I’m sorry,” she said and came out into the hall. She helped her brother off the floor and tucked the canvas under her arm. She didn’t want him to see it.

“It’s okay. I know artists are nuts,” Hayner said and rubbed his head. “Is there any particular reason you tossed an entire board at me?”

“I’m sorry, Hayner. I’m just… frustrated with it.”

“So you threw it?”

“It makes me feel better,” Namine said with a shrug. 

“Can I see it?”

“No!”

Hayner took a step back. “Chill out, Namine.”

“I’m sorry. I’m having trouble.”

“Artists block?”

“Just like writers,” Namine agreed. 

“Why don’t you talk to Mom about it?” Hayner asked. “Mom’s good for that kind of stuff.”

“I know she is, but I… I have to figure this out on my own.”

Hayner shrugged, calling back as he walked down the hall to his own room. “Suit yourself, Sis.”

Namine sighed, put the canvas in her closet, and sighed heavily. Should she talk to Aerith? Maybe her mother had some advice as to how she could go about talking the youth with the damaged face, Roxas they had called him, into letting her do his portrait. But this was something she wanted to do by herself. She couldn’t ask Aerith what to do, she decided. She would have to figure it out on her own and she had no doubts that she would figure it out eventually. 

The bad news was she would have to find something to occupy her time until she figured out how to make everything work in her favor.

Sighing, Namine got out a fresh canvas from the attic, set it up on her easel, got fresh water, cleaned her palette, and started anew. This time, the painting flowed out easily and quickly with little effort on her part. When she was half-finished, she took a small break and admired the ruined painting she had created. It was the carnival, tormented and decayed by the passage of time, with the skeletal remains of roller coaster standing against the bloody sky in the background.

She smiled.

She liked it.

She had also thought of a way to get Roxas to pose for her, even though it would take a little bit of time.

…

Namine figured that since Sora, Riku, and Xion already knew her, she didn’t need to be so sneaky about getting into the carnival grounds after hours. She clambered up over the fence, landed quietly on the other side, and hurried through the fairgrounds in search of her acquaintances. It didn’t take her long to find them since they were in a such a large group and chattering amicably amongst themselves. It seemed that some of the rawness of losing one of their own had faded a little.

“Um, hello,” she ventured. 

Sora saw her first and smiled warmly. “Namine, right?” he called, his voice ringing sweetly. 

God, she wanted to paint him too. She wanted to paint music coming out of his mouth, blooming like fresh flowers and as pure as fresh snow. He was so beautiful, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen, and she had seen models that altered their faces with surgery to become beautiful. Even so, they just didn’t measure up to Sora’s beauty. Maybe it was his sweet voice, bright cerulean eyes, and easy smile—his personality—that made him so incredibly lovely. 

“That’s me,” she said with a smile in return. 

“What can I do for you?” Sora asked, ignoring Xion as she plucked at his sleeve and Riku as he sighed heavily. 

“I was wondering—”

“Roxas still won’t model for you. I’m sorry,” Sora broke in.

Namine smiled at him, forcing out a laugh. “I didn’t come for that. I was actually wondering if you’d let me paint you.”

Sora smiled quickly. “I’d be more than happy to,” he said and shook Xion off. “I have a little bit of work to do and I can meet you somewhere in the fairgrounds.”

Perfect. Everything was going perfectly.

Namine grinned. “I didn’t bring any of my supplies and it’s getting dark. I won’t be able to see. I was hoping you’d come to my house and model in my studio.”

Sora’s smile wavered. “I don’t know. I can’t really leave… Roxas would wonder where I was.”

“So tell him,” Namine said. “Ask him to come along so he can watch over you.”

Sora shook his head. “It’s not just that. I’m sure you heard about the murder here. Leon wants us all to stay here with each other where it’s safe. If I went with you, I’d have to come back alone.”

“But,” Namine said softly. “It was a circus freak who was killed and you’re not a freak.”

Sora opened his mouth to tell her that he was and Xion put her elbow in his ribcage, shaking her head quickly.

“I don’t think I can go, Namine. I’m sorry,” Sora said instead.

Namine’s face shattered like a porcelain plate. “Oh…”

“What about tomorrow? I could find someone to come with me.”

She sniffled, “No, thanks though. My mother’s gala is tomorrow. I was hoping to have my debut piece ready for her showing.”

Sora glanced desperately at Xion and Riku, but neither one of them were giving him anything to work with or any assistance. Riku wasn’t even looking at him and Xion was shaking her head. Namine sniffled again, tears swelling in her eyes, and it was then that Sora made one of the stupidest decisions of his life. He quickly told her that he’d be more than happy to come with her tonight so long as she let him borrow a flashlight to walk home with and that he’d just be really careful coming back alone.

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?


	8. Beauty: A Portrait of Sora Strife

I’m watching the first Men in Black as I write this and Will Smith is just so hilarious. I love it when he falls from the sky and all he has to say for himself is, “It’s just raining black people in New York.” Very eloquent, Will, you’re a master of words. Always makes me laugh though.

X X X

It seemed that Namine had ridden her bicycle to the grounds and left it leaning against the fence. Sora gave her a boost over the fence and scrambled over after her with practiced ease though his landing could have used a little more practice. He about fell on his face in the dirt. 

She righted her bicycle and smiled at him. “You can sit on the back,” she said and gestured to the little platform perched over the rear tire. 

“I don’t know,” he murmured.

“It’s okay. I do this all the time with my friend Selphie. I never wreck,” Namine assured him, smiling.

Sora nodded and swung his leg over the seat, perching his weight there nervously. 

“Hold on to me,” Namine told him.

Lightly, nervously, he rested his hands on her waist and she could feel the calluses on his hands from working the High Striker even through her clothes. When she kicked off and started pedaling, his arms locked around her tightly and a little shriek of surprise escaped his mouth. 

Namine had a small laugh at his expense. “Haven’t you ever been on a bike before?”

“No,” he confessed.

“Don’t worry. You’re in good hands.”

He laughed lightly, breathily, against her ear.

A shiver went down her spine. Despite everything anyone had ever told her about carnies—they were criminals, felons, damaged people, freaks, dangerous¬—Namine wasn’t afraid of Sora or even of Xion, Riku maybe just a little bit but that was just because of his size. (In her experience, big people like Riku were often teddy bears, anyway.) But now, alone like this with the young and beautiful carnie, on their way through the dark woods around her house where no one would hear her scream, a little tremor of fear welled up inside her chest. 

The bicycle trounced over a pothole and Sora yelped in shock, his arms tightening around her waist. 

“How could you never have been on a bike before, Sora?” Namine asked with a laugh.

“Well,” Sora hesitated, “Roxas and I kind of had a rough childhood.”

“Kind of a rough childhood?” Namine repeated questioningly.

“It’s not something I talk about. Something either of us talk about.”

“Ah, the past is the past,” Namine said with a small nod. “There’s the cottage. Wow, it’s dark.”

“Is no one home?” Sora asked and scrambled off the bike as if it was going to bite his ass. “That was… exciting…”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Namine said. She walked her bike over to the porch and leaned it up against the railing. She rummaged around in the flowerbed, fumbled in the dark a minute, picked up a fake rock, and produced a key. “Come on in, Sora,” she called.

“This is a beautiful house,” Sora said and there was tangible awe in his voice. “Wow. Did your mother paint this?”

Namine turned to see what he was looking at and smiled. That was Aerith’s best-seller. She had refused every single offer to buy the original because she loved it so much. It was a strangely dark piece for Aerith—a dark and fantastic forest filled with massive trees, gnarled limbs, and swaths of Spanish moss. Hunkered in the shadow of a great tree was a beautiful pale girl with a wreath of antlers on her head and she moved like a hunted deer. Across the canvas, crouched in the bushes, was a dark hunter with bright blood-colored eyes that glowed in the dark. “She did,” she told him.

“It’s beautiful. The girl looks a little like you.”

“It should. I modeled for her.”

“Are you a model?” Sora asked.

Namine laughed softly. “No. I just posed, you know, like you’re going to do for me.”

“Oh. Well, you’re certainly pretty enough to be a model.”

Namine blushed and tucked some hair behind her ear. “Sora, you’re the same.”

He chuckled. “That’s silly. I’m a carnie.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” she told him. “You’re beautiful.”

Sora turned away, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed. “So, what do you want me to do, Namine?”

She smiled and turned on a few lights. “Nothing much. Just come upstairs with me to my studio.” She led him up the narrow staircase to her loft and flipped on the track lighting to illuminate every corner of the room. Namine didn’t like the darkness, didn’t like creeping shadows, but didn’t fear it. “Take a seat anywhere,” she told him.

Sora perched himself on a stool beside her easel and waited patiently with his hands folded in his lap. 

Namine shuffled about, getting out her paints ad brushes and a fresh canvas, and setting everything up. Then, she sat at her easel and began to mix the paint for his bright blue eyes. God, he was such a gorgeous specimen of man and Namine was a teenager with all her hormones and her eyes intact. It was tempting to ask him to strip so she could draw him completely nude, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t go for that and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to focus on drawing with that sight before her. Her cheeks tinged pink just with the thought of it and she focused on the canvas before her.

“Is something wrong?” Sora asked. “Your face is a little red.”

She cleared her throat. “I’m fine.” 

And she decided to prove that point by knocking over several things in one fell swoop, sending brushes and tubes of paint clattering. The water glass tottered dangerously and she made a grab for it the same time Sora did. His hand closed over hers and the glass with lightning fast reflexes from working the High Striker. You did not want to get hit with that mallet—it was the kind of thing that only happened once before you learned damn quick to get out of the way.

“Ah,” escaped Namine’s mouth.

Quickly, Sora allowed her to take the glass and folded his hands back in his lap.

“Your hands…” she whispered.

He looked away. “Yeah, they’re rough. It’s from the High Striker.”

Namine shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but the pained look on Sora’s face stopped her. “It that so?” she asked him.

He nodded, but his bright cerulean eyes—so open and honest and sweet—betrayed him. And Namine knew now that what she had originally thought were calluses on his hands were not. They were, in fact, scars and bad scars at that. She wondered what could possibly have scarred his palms so badly and decided that it must have been something from his ‘rough childhood’ because if it had just been an accident, she knew he would have told her.

“Let me get started,” she said and turned her attention back to the canvas before her.

For little over an hour, Namine painted Sora’s face, capturing every detail of his beauty. He sat patiently, without moving or speaking save the darting of his bright cerulean eyes and the occasional licking of his soft pink lips. Finally, she finished and turned the easel to show him.

“Wow,” he murmured. “That’s me?”

She nodded. “I was hoping… you might talk to Roxas now that you see how I work. I can’t tell you how much it would mean to me to be able to paint him.”

Sora stared at the painting. “I will… I will do what I can, Namine.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

Sora stood up, stretching. “I had better be going,” he said. “I enjoyed this.”

“Perhaps we could do it again,” Namine offered and handed him the promised flashlight.

Sora smiled and flicked on the bright beam to be sure that it worked. “I’d like that,” he said and left the studio. 

Namine counted his footsteps until she heard the front door slam shut with the wind. Then, she went to the window and made certain he was actually leaving. He was. Relieved, she sat down to admire the portrait. It felt like a long time that she sat there, but it must have been only minutes. She had a suddenly worry about the murderer who was still loose on the street, the one who was killing circus freaks. Even though Sora wasn’t a freak, she was still a little worried about him walking back in the dark alone. Maybe she should walk back with him, but she didn’t get a chance to act on her thoughts. A moment later, Sora’s scream split the night.

X X X

Between this and Broken Hallelujah, that’s two stories. I’m trying to take turns updating them. Let’s see how this works…

Questions, comments, concerns?


	9. Returning Home to Danger

Urg, they added a new song to Pocahontas. Man does it ever suck… Quit redoing the classics! They’re classic because nobody messed with them! Leave them alone! 

X X X

Sora was walking back down the rutted road that lead to Namine’s cottage home, returning to the fairgrounds. It was so dark, the beam of the flashlight spearing through the gloom was the only light in this place. Not even the moonlight came filtering through. The only sound was a distant hoot of a night owl and his own crunching footsteps. Sighing, Sora hurried. He shouldn’t have agreed to this. It was dark and frightening and there was a murderer out there picking off circus freaks.

Suddenly, hands closed down on his shoulders and a fist jammed into his back. Before he could even think about fighting and applying the strength he earned working the High Striker, he screamed, loud and shrill, and flailed wildly against his attacker. 

“Let me go! Let go!” he shouted. “Get away! Don’t kill me!”

“Kill you?” a voice rang out and Sora was abruptly released, spilling into the dirt. “Who are you?”

Quickly, Sora scrambled backwards and lifted the beam of the flashlight to illuminate his attackers face. Much to his surprise, it was just another teenager his own age, looking just as stunned as he felt. “Who am I? Who are you?” Sora asked.

“I live here! Who are you?” the teen demanded.

Namine rushed down the road, glowing white like some kind of angel. “Hayner! What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? What are you doing? Who is this?” Hayner asked, but Namine ignored her brother. 

“Sora, are you alright?” she asked and helped him to his feet.

“I’m fine. Just got a little spooked, is all,” he said softly and began brushing himself off. 

“Namine, please explain to me what’s going on,” Hayner muttered. “Please don’t tell me that this guy is a circus freak.”

“Does he look like a circus freak to you?” Namine snapped and picked a leaf out of Sora’s hair. 

“Well, no,” Hayner said, blushing.

But Sora spoke up. “I am a circus freak.”

Hayner’s eyes widened. “That’s not possible. Look at you!”

“Looks aren’t everything,” Sora said and folded his arms over his chest.

Namine shoved her brother. “Knock it off, Hayner. Go inside!”

“I don’t need to listen to you, Namine!” he shouted in return.

Sora took a step back. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I’ll be going now.” But the two siblings were so busy arguing, right up in each other’s faces, that they didn’t even see him slip off into the darkness and hurry home to the carnival and Roxas. He didn’t want to think about how ticked his twin would be when he found out that Sora had walked home alone. Maybe it would just be best to lie. It wouldn’t be the first time Sora had lied to protect himself, but it would be the first time he lied to Roxas.

…

Kairi was sitting at the window of the trailer she shared with Xion, her legs folded up into an impossible shape beneath her, watching and waiting for Sora to return home. In the middle of the living room, Xion was doing an old Buns of Steel video with lot of panting and whooping. Kairi preferred calming yoga to keep in shape, but Xion needed the fast music and fast movements. She was a fast kind of girl. When the video finished, Xion ducked her head under the kitchen faucet to soak her sweaty hair and splashed ice water on her face. Slinging a towel over her dark dripping head, Xion came to stand with Kairi.

“He’s still not back yet?” Xion asked. When she had returned to the trailer earlier, she had told Kairi everything about the strange moon-white artist that wanted to paint the circus freaks, namely Roxas. Kairi was her best friend after all.

“No,” Kairi murmured. “I’m getting a little worried.”

“Do you think he fell in bed with that girl?”

Kairi jolted and then blushed. “No, Sora’s not like that.”

Xion grinned like a lioness sensing an easy mark. “Ah, well, that girl was really pretty. You should have seen her.”

“Looks mean nothing to Sora,” Kairi snapped at Xion. 

“Oh really? Could have fooled me.”

“Quit trying to push my buttons, Xion, or I’ll tell Axel why you’re keeping all his matches.”

“I’m keeping him from starting fires,” Xion protested, but there was a little tremor in her voice.

Kairi grinned. “Is that so? Or is it because you love seeing him come over and beg for them back every day.”

“It’s to stop the fires!” Xion shouted.

“Could have fooled me,” Kairi said nonchalantly with a wave of her hand.

There was steam practically coming out of Xion’s ears. “Kairi—!”

“There he is!” Kairi bolted from the window, out the door, and caught up with Sora in the path between the trailers. He was walking slow, hands in his pockets and flashlight tucked under his arm, the beam reflecting off the windows and distant carnival rides. “Sora,” she said breathlessly with a smile. “I’m glad you’re back. How’d it go?”

“It was fine,” he said softly. “Has Roxas been looking for me?”

She shook her head. “Are you sure you’re alright? You look pale.”

“I’m fine. It’s just… my hands hurt…”

“Your hands? From the High Striker?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s an old wound. It’s nothing.”

“I didn’t know you had been hurt. Can I see?”

Sora shook his head. “No. I’m fine. It happened a long time ago.”

“What about the bruises?”

He rolled his shoulders in half a shrug. “It’s just a bruise, Kairi.”

“Bruises can hurt, too.”

“Not me,” he whispered.

“Sora,” she breathed.

“I’d better go. I’m sure Roxas is worried.” Then, like a ghost, he slithered between two of the trailers and was gone in the darkness.

Kairi wanted to go after him, but something was holding her back. She felt someone watching her, burning her body with their eyes, but when she looked around, she couldn’t see anyone. Unnerved, she stepped quickly back into the trailer she shared with Xion and slammed the door.

…

At half a run, Sora arrived back at the trailer and threw himself inside. His heart was pounding and he felt as if someone was chasing after him, but each time he turned to look, no one was there. Maybe Namine’s brother grabbing him in the dark had shaken him up more than he was ready to admit. 

Roxas was lying on the bed facing the door, his blue eyes seeming to glow in the dark, and Sora saw that tears had made slow trails down Roxas’s face, pooling on the floor.

“Roxas,” he gasped and knelt at his side, taking Roxas’s hands. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know,” he whispered, his voice choked with tears. “Something… something bad happened.”

“What?” 

“I don’t know…”

Sora hugged him tightly and that was when he felt it. Buried to the hilt in Roxas’s back was a knife, the pommel protruding like a broken bone from his twin’s body. Blood had soaked into the mattress, into the sheets, into everything. Dear God, the killer was in the trailer with them—!

X X X

What a fantastic cliffhanger. I’m so evil!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	10. Aftershock, Hospital: Roxas's Burns?

Oh, for those of you operating under the assumption that the metaphorical “Beast” Roxas had to do something horrible to deserve his curse, I will tell you a fun fact. In an old version Beauty and the Beast (probably the Grimm Brothers, knowing them and their twisted minds), the prince was transformed into a Beast because an evil fairy tried to seduce him and he resisted her. So there!

X X X

Sora tore himself away from Roxas, lunged for the light switch, and flooded every corner of the room with light. No one lurked in the corners, but Sora wasn’t convinced. He looked under the bed and peered in the closets and the bathroom, but no one was there. Whoever had done this to Roxas had already escaped. They were already long gone and he knew the police didn’t give two figs about finding this unnamed psychopath who was killing the carnies.

Cursing, he squeezed Roxas’s hand and promised to be back as soon as he could. 

Leon was the only one with a phone and they needed to call an ambulance. 

Shouting, Sora pounded his fists on the door. Sensing the panic, it only took Leon seven seconds to open the door, but it felt like forever. Quickly, Sora shouted to him what had happened to Roxas. Leon grabbed his cell phone and they ran together to the trailer to check on Roxas. He was still alive, but barely. Leon called the ambulance, shouting at them in a rage to hurry and then helped Sora press on Roxas’s wound to keep the blood from pouring out.

Sora didn’t realize that he was crying until the paramedics came and took Roxas away and he felt Kairi’s arms wrap tightly around him, shushing him. He tried to pull away from her and succeeded, but Riku caught him up with both arms and Sora was too small to fight him off. Sobbing, he hung limp in the older teen’s arms. Then, Leon was wiping his face with a handkerchief and speaking softly to him. They piled into the car like clowns—way too many people—and followed the ambulance to the hospital.

…

“If only I hadn’t have left… if only I had been there…” Sora was repeating over and over, hugging his body tightly as if to keep it together. And, sure enough, he looked as if his small beautiful body was going to break apart at any moment. “If I had just been there… if I had been with him…”

“Sora, it wasn’t your fault,” Kairi said gently and rubbed his back lightly. “Even if you had been there, it wouldn’t have made any difference. He would have hurt you, too.”

“I should have been there… I should have protected him…”

“Sora,” Kairi whispered. 

“Like he protected me…” Sora whimpered out.

Leon sighed heavily, to Kairi’s left while Sora sat to her right. Sitting across from them in the ER waiting room was Axel, Xion, and Riku. He wondered how he had squished that many people in his little pick-up, but he was beginning to suspect Axel had been riding in the bed of the truck rather than cramming himself in the cab with the rest of them.

“Kairi, you ought to give up. Just let him go at it,” Leon said. Then, he stretched himself out of the chair with multiple poppings and crackings of his back. “I’m going to get some coffee and see if I can find out how Roxas is doing. Everyone stay together, okay?”

Kairi nodded to him and gently shook Sora’s shoulder. “We will,” she said softly.

Leon walked away, his heels tapping on the linoleum floor.

Xion leaned against Riku’s arm, her eyes drooping. “This is just awful,” she said.

“What are we going to do?” Riku murmured, keeping his lids half-closed over his glowing eyes. “If the circus isn’t safe for people like us anymore?”

Xion shivered, cold in the chill of the hospital despite being seated between Axel and Riku. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “I suppose Leon will just put us on the road. Maybe when we get to a new town, the killer won’t follow us.”

Kairi rubbed Sora’s arm. “You know Leon will to something. He’ll take care of us.”

“But what if he can’t?” Axle put in.

“What do you mean?” Riku asked.

“The police. This is an open murder investigation. What if they won’t let us leave town?” he asked worriedly.

“The police don’t care a lick what happens to us,” Kairi snapped.

“That doesn’t matter. It’s protocol,” Riku supplied.

“Then… it’s possible we might be trapped here?” Xion whispered. “Where it’s not safe?”

Axel nodded, his green eyes dark with sadness.

“I should have been with him…” Sora whispered. “I should have been there…”

Kairi shushed him and hugged him lightly against her side. “Everything will be alright,” she whispered and she could only pray that it was the truth that was coming out of her mouth. She didn’t like to lie, especially not to her friends. “Please, let everything be alright,” she whispered to herself.

…

“Squall Leonhart?” 

The doctor’s voice surprised Leon and he nearly sloshed scalding coffee on himself. He was sitting alone in the hallway going to the vending machine, head dipped between his knees to quell the nausea in the pit of his cold stomach. He had had to get away from those kids, his carnie kids. They trusted him with their whole hearts and he didn’t deserve it. He couldn’t protect them. No matter what he did, he was a failure. He hadn’t been able to protect Myrtle Corbin and he hadn’t been able to protect Roxas and if Roxas was hurt then Sora was hurt too.

“Just Leon,” he croaked out. His voice sounded strange to his own ears and he cleared his throat. 

The doctor offered a hand and Leon allowed him to help him back to his feet. “Could we consider you to be Roxas Strife’s guardian?”

Leon bit his lip. “No, probably not. Maybe his twin…”

The doctor shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What is it? Maybe I should get Sora.”

The doctor shook his head again, his hand closing around Leon’s wrist. “No. I’m sure Sora already knows.”

Leon angled his head and watched the doctor closely from the corner of his eyes. “What are you not telling me?”

“It’s about those scars on his body,” the doctor said softly.

Leon sighed. Did he have to go through this every time someone saw Roxas? Just because they were carnies didn’t mean they were any lower standard of human being. “He’s a sideshow freak in my carnival. I didn’t hurt him in any way. Those twins came to me several years ago when they were twelve. They’re seventeen now and no one had touched them since they came to me,” Leon was going to continue, but the doctor held up his hand.

“I know all that. I didn’t mean to offend you by insinuating anything, even unintentionally. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you and what you do, Leon,” the doctor said softly. “About the scars, do you know what caused them?”

“They’re burns, aren’t they? That’s what they look like and Sora has some on his hands.”

The doctor nodded and his face grew heartbrokenly sad. “Do you know what kind of burns they are, Leon?”

Leon’s heart did an unpleasant little flip. “W-what?”

“They’re cigarette burns. Every last one of them.”

Leon’s heart plummeted into his stomach. “All of them…? That’s not possible. They cover so much of his face and chest. For someone to sit there and just burn him like that…” He trailed off, throat tightening up so that he could barely breathe. He sat down on the cold linoleum and put his head between his knees, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth to calm himself down. “That’s not possible,” he whispered.

The doctor knelt and put his hand on Leon’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to tell you that, but I thought it best you know. It’s possible that the same person who burned him is the one who attacked him tonight.”

“But it’s not probable,” Leon gasped. “They’ve been with me for five years and nothing’s ever happened.”

“Their parents could have been in jail.”

Leon coughed into his hands. “Goddamn…”

The doctor nodded. “What’s more is that I can’t find any medical records for Roxas in our files. With burns like that, he should have been in the hospital, but there’s nothing. Burns like that should have killed him, but somehow, he survived.”

“Stop,” Leon croaked and grabbed the doctor’s wrist. “You’re making me sick.”

The doctor sighed and crouched beside him. “You of all people know how cruel people can be.”

“This is a new level of fucking sick,” Leon rasped. “Those twins… they’re beautiful and so sweet. Sora would never hurt a fly and Roxas is so careful and tender with everyone. If anyone ever deserved the best life possible, it’s those two.”

The doctor patted his back. “I’m sorry, Leon. The world is awful. A woman came in earlier today with a broken jaw and a black eye, told me she fell down the stairs of her apartment building, but she’s a regular to the Emergency Room. I know her boyfriend did it to her.”

Leon slapped his hands on the floor, heaving. Then, he shook his head and pulled himself together. He got to his feet and dusted himself off, composed himself and smiled shakily. His face was transformed by his scar. The doctor had heard the phrase ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ but he had never found a time to accurately use it. Here, watching Leon put on a brave face for the people in his care, the doctor decided that it was the exact phrase to perfectly describe this man. Leon was clearly someone who wanted to lay down in a hole and rot, but he didn’t let himself even when he so desperately wanted to. Day after day, Leon pulled himself up by his bootstraps and went on with his life.

X X X

Mm, cigarette burns… What on earth happened to Sora and Roxas? 

And most importantly, DON’T SMOKE, everybody! It’s bad for you—like way bad!—like WAY!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	11. Namine's Second Arrival

Do me a favor everyone? Go and read this story: Never Surrender by WrinkleyWhale. And please, please, please leave a review. This is a person who really needs some support so please, everyone, for me.

X X X

Leon talked to the doctor a little bit more and learned that Roxas would pull through just fine with only a new scar to add to his vast collection. When he returned to the waiting room, he came across a rather heartwarming sight. Sora had finally sobbed himself to sleep with his head in Kairi’s lap and Kairi was gently stroking his chocolate tresses back from his face. Xion was securely wrapped in Riku’s arms, looking as if she wasn’t very far behind Sora. Axel had taken off his bomber jacket and wrapped it around Kairi’s shoulders. He was sitting on the floor between Riku and Kairi, leaning back against Kairi’s legs contentedly with his eyes closed. 

Leon smiled softly at them and gestured with his hand, whispering, “Come on gang. Roxas is going to be okay. Let’s head home.”

Even more heartwarming was the protests his proposal earned. They were all ready to spend the night uncomfortably in the hospital, waiting for Roxas to wake up. Leon was all for staying at Roxas’s side, but they had left the carnival rather defenseless and he had to insist that they all return to make sure everyone was alright and to chase off any lingering police. When he put it that way, they were more agreeable. Like shambling zombies, they made their way back out to Leon’s pick-up and piled in. Thankfully, when they returned to the carnival, there was a light on in every trailer, the police were gone, and everything was alright… for the most part, that was.

…

Roxas came around in the middle of the night when the morphine the hospital had been dripping into him ran out. 

For a moment, he laid there and tried to remember what had happened. Right, he had been attacked. By who? But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall his attacker’s face. The only thing he could clearly remember was Sora coming home and finding him. Poor Sora. He must have given his poor brother quite the fright. 

Exhausted and hurting, Roxas pressed his fingers to his damaged face and fell back to sleep.

…

Namine was having trouble sleeping. She could feel Sora’s portrait staring at her through the darkness. Finally, she crawled out of bed, stuffed herself into a robe, and put the painting in the closet. Tomorrow, she would show it to Aerith and they would decide if it was good enough to be Namine’s debut piece, but until then she wanted it to stop looking at her. She crawled back into bed, but still couldn’t keep her eyes closed.

Groaning, she dragged herself back out of bed and shuffled downstairs to the kitchen for a glass of milk. Maybe if she got up for a little while, she’d be tired enough to sleep. Sipping her milk, she went into the living room and spent a minute looking for the remote and cursing Hayner for hiding it on her. When she finally found it, she started to channel surf, but there wasn’t anything on this late at night except infomercials and news for insomniacs.

Namine let the television settle on the news and watched blankly, only half-hearing half of what was going on. Then, something caught her attention so fast that she could hardly breathe and jolted upright on the sofa.

“In other news, the Circus Freak Killer has struck again. First, killing Myrtle Corbin, the Four Legged Lady of Leon’s Travelling Carnival. Tonight, though, the psycho attacked and stabbed another young freak, the Hamburger Head, Roxas Strife, also of Leon’s Circus. The boy is in stable condition and the police hope to get something useful out of him. Now, here’s Debbie with the weather. Debbie?”

Namine muted the TV in shock. Someone had… someone had stabbed Roxas. 

…

The morning sun was warm and bright, the sunrise beautiful and slow. The birds were chirping and there was a light breeze blowing in from the east. The day dawned quietly and peacefully, without fire or any other unpleasant surprises—thank you very much Xion for taking away Axel’s fire starters.

Looking at the new day, it was hard to imagine that something so horrible had happened yesterday.

Sora woke up the next morning on the couch and alone and not in his trailer, but tucked in nicely with his shoes and the contents of his pockets waiting for him patiently. For a moment, he sat there in bleary confusion, wondering what he was doing in Kairi and Xion’s trailer. Then everything came back to him in one exhausting terrible rush. “Roxas!” he shouted and flew to his feet whereupon he promptly fell over them and landed on his face.

His shout woke Kairi and Xion. 

Xion jolted up in bed, brandishing a meat tenderizer in one hand and a hammer in the other. “Whazzat? What’s going on?” 

Kairi was a little more with it upon awakening. She leaped from her bed and wrapped both arms around Sora, shushing him until he stopped his shouting.

“What happened?” he demanded. “Where’s Roxas? Is he okay?”

“He’s going to be fine,” Kairi told him gently. “We’re going to see him later today.”

Sora let out his breath in a relieved rush and wiped the tears that had gathered in his eyes. “I’m glad… God, I can’t believe that happened. I should have been there with him, to protect him. It’s about time I returned the favor.”

“What favor?”

“He’s protected me before at a cost to himself.”

“Sora?” Kairi whispered.

He seemed to suddenly realize what he was talking about and clammed up with a fake smile that didn’t even reach his torturously honest eyes. “It’s nothing. Something that happened when we were just kids,” was all he said and grinned even wider. “I should go talk to Leon. You know, thank him for what he did and then I’ll walk to the hospital to be with Roxas.”

“Sora,” Kairi began, but he pulled away and was out the door before she could even get anything out. “Xion, did you think that was strange?”

But Xion had rolled over and gone back to sleep. 

Kairi sighed. She might have been armed to the teeth, but she was no help at all. So much for Xion the vampire bodyguard.

…

Namine got dressed in a hurry the next morning, stuffed a piece of hot buttered toast in her mouth, left her mother a note to explain her whereabouts, and got on her bike. She was going to the hospital to see Roxas and Sora. Surely he would be there since his brother was in the hospital, but Namine had seen some strange families in her time. People were a little too far past humanity—they were more like apes once again, now.

It didn’t take her as long as she had expected to pedal to the hospital. She locked her bike to the rack out front, smoothed down her flyaway hair, and went inside through the revolving doors. The woman behind the desk was reluctant to let Namine see Roxas, but Namine knew just how sweet and innocent she looked and played it to her own advantage. Finally, the woman gave in and told her the room number. Thanking her and giving her best winning smile, Namine hurried to Roxas’s room.

She hesitated and then knocked lightly.

“Sora? Is that you?” Roxas called from inside.

God, his voice was so sweet, sweeter than Sora’s, and hearing it made Namine’s entire mind turn into a blank screen of white stage fright. She had no idea what she was going to do now that she was here. She hadn’t honestly thought she would get this far. Someone had tried to murder him! Shouldn’t the police he guarding him? God, what was she going to say to him?

“Sora? It’s open. Come in.”

Namine’s hand operated separately of the rest of her and turned the cold knob. Entering, her voice squeaked out a little greeting of, “Hi.”

Roxas stared at her and he was just as spectacular as she had remembered. The entire right side of his face was damaged and scarred, save his mouth and around his eye. And those eyes! They were just as spectacular as Sora’s cerulean sky-blue orbs if not more so when they were settling in such a hideous visage. A small gasp escaped Namine and Roxas quickly turned his head away.

“You should leave,” he said.

“No!” she yelped.

He glanced at her. “What?”

“I… I’ve wanted to see you again.”

He eyed her a moment and then she saw the recognition light up in his eyes. “You’re that girl,” he murmured.

She smiled lightly. “Yeah, Namine. I guess… I’m an artist,” she said. “And I’ve been trying to find a way to, um, draw you. I want to do a portrait of you to be my debut piece in my mother’s gallery. I painted your brother just yesterday.”

“You painted Sora?”

“Yeah, he’s so beautiful. He’s the best model.”

“Then you should paint him more. Sora is lovely. I’m lucky to have him as my twin.”

“You guys are twins?” Namine whispered.

Roxas nodded. “It’s hard to believe, I know, but we are.”

Namine sat down at his bedside. “I don’t know, Roxas. You’re both beautiful in different ways.”

“Thanks for that.”

“So… could I paint you?”

He shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because no one needs to see this face.”

“But I could make you beautiful.”

He glanced at her. “You mean, you wouldn’t paint this?” He gestured to the scars on his face.

Namine bit her lip. “If that’s what it takes, but I’d really like to draw your whole face. I think it’s beautiful.”

Roxas smiled faintly, the smile marred by the scars on the right side of his face. “You and Sora would be the first.”

“Please?” she whispered.

He shook his head again. “I’m sorry. Paint Sora, he’s beautiful.”

“But I want to paint you.”

“No,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”

Namine stared at her hands. She had tried so hard, but she saw now that this was something she just couldn’t do. Sora’s beautiful face would just have to do, but it wasn’t what she wanted. She bit her lip hard and choked back tears. “Oh,” she whispered.

Roxas was silent.

“Maybe we could just… hang out some time then,” she whispered.

He hesitated and glanced at the beautiful girl sitting at his bedside, inches from crying. Sora would never forgive him if he made her cry so he nodded and whispered, “I’d like that.”

The change in Namine was immediate. She perked right up, smiling through her glistening eyes. “Really?”

“But it might not be safe for you.”

“I’ll come to the carnival.”

“It’s really not safe there either.”

“Then you can come to my house. We’ll work something out.”

The door opened and Sora’s voice rang out. “Namine? What are you doing here?”

She flushed. “I’ve got to run. I’ll see you Roxas, Sora,” she called and dashed down the hall of the sterile white hospital.

Sora glanced questioningly at Roxas. “What was that?”

“She wants to paint me, Sora. She thinks I’m beautiful.”

Sora came to sit on his twin’s bed and covered the damaged part of Roxas with his hand. “You are, Roxas.”

Roxas laid his hand over Sora’s. “Thank you, brother.”

Sora smiled. “It’s just the truth, Roxas. It’s just the truth.”

X X X

Ah, the long-awaited meeting of Namine and Roxas. It’s about darn time, right? Have I made you all wait long enough?

Questions, comments, concerns?


	12. The Night of Showers: Pt I

I’m thinking I should change the title. It’s starting to have a little less to do with Beauty and the Beast than I originally planned, but I so like the title! Maybe I’ll just fix it at the end like I always do when the plot escapes my initial planning. That happens to me a lot so I’m kind of a master at fixing the ending.

X X X

After what happened to Roxas, Leon had wanted to pick up the entire carnival and move it as far from this city as possible, but the police were demanding that he and his carnies stay in town until the murderer was caught. It made Leon feel sick because the cops weren’t doing hardly anything to stop this psycho except pushing the proper paperwork and cruising past once a day. Meanwhile, Leon’s small traveling family—which had already suffered enough to last lifetimes over—were living in fear of the next strike.

Leon checked Roxas out of the hospital a few days later afterwards making both Sora and Roxas promise that they were going to take it easy and stay out of trouble. Roxas had to let the wound heal—no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

With what had happened, the buddy system was now rather rigorously enforced. Roxas and Sora had moved into Kairi and Xion’s trailer and a few other people doubled up as well. Only Leon was brave enough to stay in his trailer alone though he did put bells on the door so he would hear it being opened. Axel and Riku, who lived alone, had moved in together much to Riku’s chagrin, but everyone was willing to sacrifice a little comfort for some safety. 

It was dreary and grey, misting just enough to be unpleasant and cold, but that was why someone had invented the umbrella. Hunkered beneath theirs, Sora supported his twin, Roxas’s arm slung over his shoulder comfortably and his strong arm supporting Roxas’s narrow waist. Beside them, without umbrella but wearing her raincoat with the hood pulled up, Xion slouched through the low fog.

“What is it about the word safe that’s just wrong?” Xion asked as they walked through the carnival, setting up before tonight’s showing.

“What do you mean?” Sora asked her.

“I mean, when you add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’ to words, it’s supposed to make it more so, right?”

Sora wrinkled his brow. “Um, I guess.”

Xion glanced at him. “What I mean is, when you add either of those to safe, it makes it less so.”

Roxas rolled his eyes. “Please explain further.”

“Like, we’re not safe together, but we’re safer.”

Sora’s eyes widened, but Roxas shook his head. “It’s all in the context, Xion.”

“No it’s not! What about… this is the safest place we could be? It’s saying it’s the safest place, but we’re still not safe.” (1)

Roxas sighed. “Stop puzzling about it, Xion. Just help Sora set up the High Striker.”

She grumbled, “No one appreciates me.”

“That’s true,” Axel chimed in as he came up behind Sora and Roxas with Riku and the collection of sideshow freaks for the Freak Tent. “I certainly don’t appreciate that you took all my matches.”

Riku snorted. “I appreciate that!”

Xion wrinkled up her nose. “You know Axel, you’re such a jerk. How about setting up the High Striker with Sora and I’ll help Riku with the Freak Tent?”

Axel sneered. “I thought I was a jerk.”

Xion ignored him in favor of walking into the tent, tossing her hair over her shoulder though the effect was lost because her hair was so short and her hood was pulled up.

Riku sighed and shook his head before sliding a grinning glare to Axel. “You two should just get together already. You bicker like an old married couple.”

Xion stuck her head out of the tent and shouted, “Yeah right!” at the same time Axel shrieked, “No way!”

Riku glanced at the twins, smiled, and shoved Xion back into the tent. Sora walked Roxas into the tent and helped him up onto his platform before joining Axel out at the High Striker. Together, they set up the strongman game while Riku and Xion set up all the freaks. Then, they gathered inside to wait for Leon to show up to guard the freaks before Sora and Axel would leave on their tasks together. 

Finally, Leon arrived just as they were getting worried. “Sorry, gang,” was all he said by way of explanation. “I think it’s going to be a slow night what with this drizzle and fog and all.”

“Probably,” Sora agreed. “But I could go for a slow night.”

Riku slid his glowing eyes to Axel. “Plus, if things get wetted down, it’ll be harder for Axel to light things on fire. He hasn’t had any matches for almost two days. He’s bound to explode soon.”

Axel folded his arms and snorted unhappily. 

Leon chuckled. “Try to keep it under control, guys. I want everyone to be careful, okay?”

They all nodded.

“Good. Now, go ahead. Get on with it!”

…

Leon had been right, with the drizzle and fog, only a few brave souls arrived at the carnival and it was really just for the classic foods like funnel cake, cotton candy, and caramel apples. Fair for dinner, yum! And by the time it was time to close up, the damp cold had soaked into everyone’s bones. As a result, there was a lot of snapping and snarling as they all headed back to their trailers, but Sora was certain everyone would be apologizing tomorrow. They were all that close after all.

“Wow,” Kairi muttered as she roughly dried her blood-colored hair with a towel. “That was the longest night ever.”

“Time crawls when you’re not doing anything,” Xion mumbled. She was lying face down on her bed, grumbling into her pillow. “And it’s bloody cold!”

Sora helped Roxas sit down on the couch. “I didn’t think it was so bad.”

Xion rolled over to look at him. “You were bored. Admit it. I heard you ringing the bell on the High Striker for a straight minute.”

Sora blushed. “I was, but it wasn’t so bad.”

“I was starting to wish Axel would start a fire just to give us something to do,” Xion grumbled.

“How could he do that? You took all his fire starters,” Kairi said. “Uh, I’m dying for a real shower.”

“The park has showers,” Sora offered. 

“I don’t think it’s safe,” Kairi said softly.

“Not if we all went together,” Sora said with a smile. “We could get Riku and Axel to come with us.”

Xion’s cheeks flamed. “No way!”

“That’s a good idea, Sora,” Kairi said and ignored her squawking roommate. “Let me get some stuff together and we’ll all walk over to Riku’s trailer to get them.”

Sora nodded, smiling, his cheeks pink.

Roxas elbow his twin lightly. “Sora, you’ve got a little blush on your face.”

Xion grinned.

Sora whirled quickly, covering his face with his hands and blushing even brighter. “So Roxas,” Sora said once he got his face under control. “Are you going to let Namine paint you?”

“Namine?” Xion repeated, sitting up. “Where did Roxas run in to her?”

“She was at the hospital when I got there.”

Xion’s dark brow wrinkled. “How did she know Roxas was in the hospital? You don’t think she could be the—augh!”

Kairi dumped her armload of towels over Xion’s head to shut her up. “That girl wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Xion scrambled her face through the towels. “You only know what I told you, Kairi,” she grumbled.

“And what Sora told me, Xion, and I can tell from what Sora told me. She’s not a dangerous girl. She sounds like a sweetheart,” Kairi said plainly as she shrugged her robe on over her pajamas. “Let’s get our umbrellas and raincoats and get going before it starts raining too hard.”

Sora nodded, slung Roxas’s arm around his shoulder supportively, and took the umbrella Kairi offered them. She shouldered the shampoo and conditioner for the four of them and nodded when she was ready. Xion wrapped her arms around the mess of towels and let Kairi tuck an umbrella into the crook beneath her neck to keep her dry. Then, they headed out into the rainy night to Riku’s trailer across the way. They collected the boys and headed off the main building of the park where there were showers, toilets, water fountains, sinks, and an information desk (though the desk was locked up at night). 

Riku and Axel checked inside the women’s showers for any lurking murderers, closed and locked the single window, and deemed it safe so long as Kairi and Xion locked the big door. Then, the four boys went into the men’s showers to clean up.

“This was a great idea,” Riku said with a sigh as he stripped off his clothes and folded them neatly. His voice echoed against the walls.

Sora helped Roxas peel off his shirt before ducking into his own shower stall. They were close, but they hadn’t been that close in a long time. Roxas didn’t like anyone to see the scars all over his chest, carved into his pale flesh stones.

“You guys are so gay,” Axel grumbled. He had been dragged along unwillingly because Riku wanted to go for a real shower as well and Axel couldn’t stay behind alone. “Can’t go four or five days without a shower?”

Riku only said, “Thank you,” since he was in fact gay.

But Sora had something far more clever to say. “Some of us value personal hygiene, Axel, unlike you.”

With a squawk of protest, Axel decided that he would shower too.

…

Roxas smiled to himself as he listened to his twin, Riku, and Axel arguing with each other over the roar of the water. As usual, Axel as losing. He lost each and every fight because the others were really adept at stomping out his fires so it was a wonder he even bothered to try to argue with them anymore. Maybe that was what Axel’s family had been like. Roxas knew Axel had a brother a few years younger and maybe arguing with Sora and Riku was Axel’s way of recapturing his family.

Roxas traced the damage of his scarred chest and face, sighing heavily. He had no desire to ever recapture his family or childhood. He had Sora and that was all that mattered to him anymore.

“Namine,” he whispered into the warm water. 

What a strange girl, he decided. Though artists were often strange, her desire to do a portrait of his hideous face was nothing less than bizarre, yet her words rang true and she must have been a nice person because she had convinced Sora to pose for her and Sora was an excellent judge of character. Should he let her paint him? She had looked so crestfallen when he had told her no…

Roxas sighed again, his mind going back to the image of her he had painted in his head the first time he saw her—her white clothing, her pale hair and bright blue eyes, her mouth falling open in a little ‘o’ of shock when she laid eyes on his face, the little flush of embarrassment coloring her cheeks. God, she was so beautiful, like an angel and on par with Sora, and she had been even more beautiful in the hospital room sitting at his bedside nervously.

What had happened to him?

When he had laid eyes on her that night in the Freak Tent, he had been captivated by her immediately. He had wanted to see her again. He had wondered what it would be like to have her be like Sora, to touch his damaged face gently and not look away, to see right past the damage like his beautiful twin did. Honestly, Roxas should be counting his lucky stars that even after seeing Sora and painting him, she was still interested in Roxas and his mangled face, even on a strictly artistic level. After all, who would want to paint a hideous beast when they could paint Sora’s exquisite beauty?

Why was Roxas passing up an opportunity to be with this girl?

He didn’t even know her, but he wanted to.

He wanted to very badly.

The hot water cascaded over his head and shoulders for a long moment while he tried to find the words to call out to his twin. He pictured Namine’s pretty face, her honest sky-blue eyes like Sora’s, and her nervous little white hands. She wouldn’t paint him as a monster, Roxas realized. She had said she wanted to paint the strange beauty she saw in his ruined face. She was a strange girl, even for an artist, but that was alright. Roxas would take what he could get and, being a freak, that was nothing. The chance to even speak with a beautiful girl was enough.

“Sora,” he called softly. 

In the way only his twin could, Sora heard him despite how soft his voice was. “Yeah Roxas?”

“I want to let Namine paint me.”

“Really?” Sora sounded pleased.

“Yeah.”

“You’ll like her. She’s so nice.” 

“Yeah.”

“That’s awesome, Roxas. That’s really great.”

…

Kairi tipped her head back beneath the spray, humming happily. Xion was singing loudly and obnoxiously and Kairi wondered if the boys could hear it, smiling to herself as she scrubbed the grime off her body. That was the problem with being a contortionist. She did a lot of laying on the ground and folding herself up into grimy suitcases so she was always grateful when the location they were staying at had real showers. The one in the trailer was good and all, but it just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t relaxing when she had to turn the water on and off between rinses to save water in the small tank. It was fantastic just to soak beneath the spray.

“Kairi, are you about finished?” Xion called.

“Are you?”

“Yeah. I’m starting to wrinkle and I’m sure the boys are done.”

“Okay,” Kairi said sadly.

Truthfully, she would have loved to just stand beneath the spray for a while longer, but Xion was right. The boys were probably impatient to get back to the grounds. She shut off the water, inhaling all the leftover steam. After toweling off and putting her pajamas back on, she stuffed herself into her robe and opened the stall door into the steamy bathroom. Xion stepped out of her own stall the same time, but Xion saw it first, the bottles of shampoo falling from her hands with a clatter. 

“Xion what is it?”

Xion’s hand trembled as she pointed, her face chalk-pale and her blue eyes wide with terror—

CIRCUS FREAKS, BE-FUCKING-WARE!

—was written in the condensation on the mirror and the window hung open on ruined hinges. 

A cold breeze blew in through the opening, swirling away the steam and chilling Kairi to the bone. She ran to the window and looked out, despite her silly fear that a hand would reach in and drag her screaming into the darkness of the damp night. Nothing was there in the misty darkness. 

It was silent and still. 

Then, Xion let out a shuddering scream.

X X X

(1) Has anyone else noticed that about safe, safer, and safest? Just think about it. It’s weird…

Wow, long chapter.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	13. The Night of Showers: Pt II

Ah, I’m sick. I have a stupid head cold and I sound like a duck.

X X X

Xion’s scream shook the building. 

The boys had been lingering together outside the women’s showers, waiting patiently because Roxas, Sora, and Riku were those kind of people (Axel, on the other hand, was almost to the point where he’d rather brave the homicidal circus freak killer than wait any longer.) Riku immediately jolted and rushed to yank open the door, but it was still locked securely—they couldn’t get in to help the girls. Thankfully, the lock clicked back and Xion and Kairi spilled out into Riku’s waiting arms. They were racing with such terrified force that they nearly bowled him over and only Axel’s shoulder in his back kept him on his feet.

“What happened?” Axel demanded. 

Sora tightened his grip on Roxas. Had the killer returned to finish his twin off?

“In there,” was all Kairi could get out.

Xion’s eyes were desperately wide, her mouth open and working with no sound coming out of her, and her caramel-colored skin was chalk-pale. A testimony to the state she was in was that when Riku pushed her into Axel’s arms so he could check out the showers, she didn’t even protest. Kairi went to Sora and he tucked her under his other arm, hugging her to his side. 

“Riku,” Sora breathed. “W-what is it?”

Riku stepped into the steamy room and came back out looking as ill as Xion. “We need to go. We need to get Leon,” he said. Then, he scooped Roxas up full in his arms and took off at a fast pace down the hall back to the carnival. Axel swept up Xion as well and hurried after Riku, the path lit by the older boy’s glowing eyes. Kairi grabbed Sora’s hand, her grip cold and clammy, and she raced after the others at practically a run. What had they seen in there? 

…

Leon was content that with this new system, his carnies would be as safe as he could make them. Then, the pounding came on the door of his Airstream in the middle of the night. It wasn’t the time that concerned him since his carnies were often up rather late, but the desperation in those knocks brought him to his feet instantly. He pulled open the door.  
“What’s the matter, guys?” he asked, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

Upon seeing them, his worries were all confirmed and his beliefs shattered in one fell swoop. Riku, Axel, Roxas, Sora, Kairi, and Xion were all sensible kids. In fact, half of them weren’t even kids. Riku had just turned twenty-one, Axel was nineteen, Kairi and Xion both eighteen. Sora and Roxas were the only kids at seventeen, but they had been matured by the things they had been through. The important part was, they weren’t people to panic on a moment’s notice. Sure, Axel was an idiot pyro and Sora was a little too sweet, but they were still sensible people. 

But Riku’s face was grey and sick. 

Kairi was hanging on Sora as if her life depended on it. 

Xion’s mouth was working furiously with no sound coming out.

“My god, what happened?” Leon asked and tried to usher them inside out of the drizzle.

“N-no,” Kairi forced out. “You have to come… You have to call the police…”

Leon’s heart skipped. “What happened? Sora, Axel, Roxas?”

Axel shook his head. “I have no idea. The girls saw something in the showers.”

“You went to the showers?”

Sora nodded. “All of us together, we thought we’d be safe.”

The six of them together. Leon couldn’t argue with that logic. “Let’s go,” he said and grabbed his raincoat.

“Police,” Kairi whispered.

“Maybe you should stay here with the girls, Riku,” Leon murmured.

Riku shook his head. “No. We stay together.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Leon said and watched as they gathered each other up. Damn, his kids were close. Nothing could come between them and for that, at least, he was grateful, but he also hated it because that meant if something happened to one of them, they would all hurt.

…

The women’s shower room was a like something out of scene from a slasher movie. By the time they returned, the message that had been scrawled in the condensation was gone, but Riku told Leon what had been written there. There was blood everywhere, splattered on the stall doors and smeared on the floor. There was enough blood for ten people, all marred with Kairi and Xion’s footprints, but there were no bodies and no blood coming in through the open window and it hadn’t been raining hard enough to wash it all away. Someone had brought the blood here and was playing with them, terrorizing them just for kicks.

Roxas sniffed, tightening his arm around Sora’s shoulders. “That’s weird,” he murmured.

Sora glanced at him, his eyes hunted.

“What is?” Leon asked him.

“All this and… it doesn’t smell like blood in here,” he explained.

“Maybe the showers and the smell of shampoo overlaid it,” Axel suggested. He looked a lot like a large bird, sheltering Xion and Kairi under his big arms and heavy smoky-smelling coat.

Roxas shook his head, hanging back since he had already seen it and had no desire to again. “Roxas is right,” he said. “All this blood, there’s no way it was masked by the shampoo or blew out because the window is open. We should definitely be smelling the copper.”

“How do you know that?” Riku asked him.

Roxas slid his eyes away. “Experience,” he said finally. “I did lay in my own blood until Sora found me.”

“He’s right thought,” Leon said. “We should be smelling it, but we’re not.” Experimentally, he put his finger into a puddle and sniffed it. Then, he timidly tasted it and wrinkled his nose before standing up sharply to turn to face the kids. “It’s corn syrup. Someone is fucking playing with us.”

“Corn syrup?” Kairi repeated, her voice shaking. “But it looks so real…”

“It can. It’s a Halloween trick and we use it ourselves for our Halloween nights. A little flour, red food dye, and corn syrup and you’re good to go,” Leon said and patted her shoulder. “Come on. We’ll all sit in my Airstream while we wait for the police to show up.” 

Then, Leon ushered them all back into the misty night. 

He seated everyone in his Airstream, called the police, and then sighed heavily before turning to look at them. 

God, when were his kids going to stop suffering?

Riku, his glowing green eyes shadowing Xion’s face as he spoke to her, was trying to coax her out of her shell-shocked state. Riku had had it rough to begin with. His parents had accepted his glowing eyes as best they could, by making their son pose as a blind child for most of his life. When Riku was old enough to decide about his eyes and decided he would just show them to the world, his parents hated it, but they dealt with it. The final blow, the blow that sent Riku running into the arms and shelter of the circus, was when he admitted to his parents that he liked other boys. His sexual preference was the straw that broke the camel’s back and destroyed his home.

Xion licked her mouth and cut her lip on her vampire teeth, blinking and finally meeting Riku’s eyes with focus and an uneasy smile. Xion’s freak trait was more easily disguised. She had told Leon that she had been homeschooled until high school and only posed as a Goth in high school so that everyone assumed her teeth were caps. Then, she had been attacked on the street and bit her attacker to get away. In the ensuing investigation, the truth of her teeth came out and her father insisted she go to the dentist and get them fixed, but she refused. Then, he father threw her out and she came to the circus to be a freak just like Riku. She was a strong person and a non-conformist.

Axel was a pyromaniac. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It was plain and it was simple. He was a danger to society and his mother was going to have him institutionalized if he couldn’t find a way to curb his dangerous and fiery tendencies. After all, she had four other kids to take care of and had no time or spare patience for a troublemaker. So, Axel learned some pyrotechnics, left home at seventeen, and came to the circus offering his services. Leon would never forget Axel’s face that day, skinny and pale and smudged with soot, but honest and smiling and striking with those bright cat-like green eyes and flame-red hair. Axel had been with them since though he hadn’t been able to completely curb his firebug issues.

Kairi had folded her body up into an unbelievable yoga position and was quietly meditating out her fears as best she could. Her story was a little less sad and dark. She had been a fantastic gymnast all through elementary, middle, and high school with a shot at the pros because of her extreme flexibility and her strength, but Kairi was too kind for competition. Her mother encouraged her to find a place where she could be whoever she wanted. She wanted Kairi to follow all her dreams no matter what they might be and Kairi didn’t know what that had been that the time so she joined the circus to travel and see the world and be herself. Now, her mother was dead and Kairi had no home to return to. The circus was her only home now.

Sora and Roxas, the twins, were the only ones Leon knew nothing about save what that doctor had told him the other day—that the burns on Roxas’s face and chest were cigarette burns, all of them—and what Sora and Roxas had told him themselves when they arrived. They were the epitome of kids who ran away from home to join the circus, but Leon got the feeling that it hadn’t been safe for them at home though they never told him anything about what had happened. Sometimes, Leon saw Sora looking over his shoulder with the most hunted look in his eyes and Roxas would grip Sora’s hand and squeeze it until that look went away. What had happened to those poor kids that they feared and hurt so much?  
And who was killing and terrorizing Leon’s circus freaks?

And why?

There were far too many unanswered questions… far too many… And Leon had a feeling the police weren’t going to be answering any of them.

X X X

Some background information on everyone except Sora and Roxas so that takes care of everyone’s back story except for Namine’s, but she’s had a good childhood so who cares anyway. Do we have conjectures on what happened to the twins? Anyone?

Questions, comments, concerns?


	14. Clean Up on Aisle Five!

I just got a tooth pulled and I’m not happy so I might not update.

X X X

After dealing with the police, the six kids marched each other back to their trailers, escorted by the police before they left. Then, exhausted, they all slept until Leon came to wake them. They had to clean up the fake blood in the women’s showers or else the park that was allowing them to set up would kick them out and there was no place for a circus their size to fit comfortably. They had no choice except to duck their heads and deal with it. 

Leon was going into town to buy everyone a can of pepper spray as a small defense so that left Riku, Axel, Sora, Xion, and Kairi to clean up the mess. Roxas was sitting on a chair, hurt too badly to work a mop and sworn by Leon that he would take it easy, but he wouldn’t part from his twin’s side. The others were mopping, spreading water and fake blood all over the place and generally seeming to make more of a mess than they were cleaning when Namine arrived.

“Wow,” she breathed. “You guys didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

Sora leaned on his mop. “Hey Namine. Nice to see you.”

“How’d you find us?” Roxas asked.

“It wasn’t rocket science. I just asked one of the other carnies where you were and they said you were cleaning the women’s showers on the other side of the park.”

“See!” Axel broke in. “It’s the women’s showers! We, and by ‘we’ I mean me, shouldn’t be in here!”

“Jeez, Axel, shut your freaking gob! That stopped being funny the first time you said it,” Xion shouted at him.

“And why just you?” Sora asked. “Roxas, Riku, and I are all men, too.”

“Yeah, but Riku’s gay and you twins are way to pretty to be boys,” Axel protested.

Kairi mopped the backs of his legs. “Oops.”

“Just mop, Axel,” Riku said. 

“Sorry about that,” Sora said to Namine with a smile. “What bring you here?”

“I wanted to see Roxas,” she said with a smile. “We’re supposed to hang out. We made plans at the hospital, remember? But then I realized I didn’t have your number and you didn’t have mine to arrange anything so I thought I’d stop by. Look! I brought you a Get Well present.” From her canvas shoulder bag, she produced a small brightly wrapped package and a small canvas about the size of a book. Painted on the canvas was Sora’s beautiful face and Namine’s best interpretation of Roxas’s.

“You painted this?” Roxas whispered.

“Yeah. Do you like it? I was hoping that once you saw how I intended to pain you, you might change your mind.”

Sora grinned. “It’s amazing. You’re so talented.” He smiled meltingly at her.

She blushed. “It’s nothing. You should see my mother’s artwork.”

“I have seen it,” he said.

Kairi sidled up and smiled at the beautiful and pale blonde. “I’m Kairi, the contortionist,” she said and offered her hand. “I’m the only one you haven’t met yet.”

“She hasn’t met me either,” Axel protested.

Xion sighed. “She doesn’t want to know you, Axel.”

“Axel is out resident pyromaniac,” Sora supplied as Namine shook Kairi’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure,” the young artist said. “So, what on earth happened here?”

“We killed someone,” Axel said grouchily.

Xion flat-out hit him in the face with her bloody mop. “He’s lying. Just ignore him.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard about the murder of Myrtle Corbin, our Four Legged Lady, on the news and then Roxas was attacked while Sora was with you,” Riku explained, leaning on his mop like Sora. “Well, whoever is doing this isn’t happy with just killing us. He’s decided to torment us, too. This is what was waiting for the girls when they got out of the shower last night except there was a message on the mirror, too.”

“Circus freaks, be-fucking-ware,” Xion supplied angrily. Now that her fear had lessened, it was replaced with boiling anger.

“Then this is all… what?” Namine asked. “Animal blood? Paint?”

“It’s fake blood,” Sora told her and began mopping noisily again.

“Corn syrup, some flour, and red food dye,” Kairi said. “To add insult to injury, it’s out own recipe that we use on Halloween.”

Namine’s blue eyes widened. “You don’t think this could be the doing of another carnie, do you?”

“Not a chance. Carnies are closer than family. We would never hurt one of our own,” Xion said and started mopping again as well. “Axel, come on! You’re making this take forever.”

“Give me back my matches!”

“Not a chance.”

“Then I’m not mopping.”

“You are mopping,” Riku said sternly.

Axel met those glowing eyes and did as he was told. 

Xion snickered and he slid her a glare.

“Knock it off, both of you. Xion, you mop too,” Kairi put in. “I swear, I feel like I’m babysitting only I’m not getting paid.”

Sora chuckled.

“I’m glad you find it so funny, Sora,” Xion snapped.

“What? I’m mopping!” the beautiful twin said.

Roxas shook his head ruefully—these clowns… He unwrapped the other package while his friends were squabbling amongst themselves, turned it over a few times, and then held it up questioningly. “A candy bar?” he asked Namine.

She turned to face him. “I wasn’t sure what to get you, but I know you’re not supposed to have chocolate when you get out of the hospital so…” she trailed off grinning.

He smiled faintly. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“No problem.”

Sora turned and gave his twin an inscrutable look. Namine lifted her brow, but Sora only smiled at her and went back to mopping.

“And Namine,” Roxas said suddenly.

“Yes?”

“I’d be honored if you’d paint me for your debut.”

For a moment, she stared at him, unable to believe her luck. Then, a grin spread across her face and she beamed. “Really?”

He nodded.

“Oh, thank you! You won’t regret it, I promise!” Then, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Roxas accepted this with a grain of salt and patted her back lightly, smiling at Sora as his twin returned to mopping. Then, when no one was looking anymore, he felt the girl press her lips lightly to his damaged cheek and whisper against the shell of his ear, “Thank you, Roxas.”

Stunned, he just sat there, his arms sliding down from her small body.

Namine took a step back, her cheeks a beautiful shade of rose, and she smiled at him. “You won’t regret it,” she said. Then, she turned to the others. “How about I help you out? Do you have an extra mop?”

“Yes! More help!” Axel cheered.

“You’re sweet,” Kairi said with a smile.

“There’s another mop in the hallway,” Riku said.

Namine fetched it, came back in with such a bright smile on her face that she even rivaled Sora, and began mopping vigorously with them. She was so good and so fast that it turned into a sort of competition. Axel, of course, couldn’t resist a challenge and buckled down on working harder to show off. Xion and Kairi, laughing, scrubbed the walls and the mirrors. Riku took care of the bloody water since he was the biggest and strongest. Sora kept the fresh mops going to Namine and Axel. Roxas just watched, smiling. Within half an hour, they had cleaned all the blood from the bathroom from stem to stern. 

“Where’d you learn to mop like that?” Riku asked.

“I’m an artist. We have a lot of weird talents,” Namine said with a smile.

He gave her the fish eye, something even more effective with his strange glowing eyes.

“Okay, okay. When you get paint on the floor, you have to get it off really quickly while it’s still wet or else it never comes off.”

“Ah, so experience?” Riku asked with a knowing smile.

Namine smiled, her cheeks tingeing pink with a fresh blush. “It was just a couple of times, honest.”

They all laughed.

X X X

Wow, did anyone else notice this entire chapter was about cleaning up the bloody bathroom? Of course not! There was way too much other interesting stuff going on.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	15. Leon's Circus Arms Up

This story is way too much fun to write.

X X X

After they finished cleaning the bathroom and put the mops away, they headed back to the carnival in a tight group. Namine could practically taste their worry about what had been happening. Roxas and Sora looked especially concerned, their blue eyes darting around warily. The only ones who seemed unconcerned were Axel and Xion, but they were so busy fighting that Namine had the feeling they wouldn’t even notice if a satellite fell from the sky and landed right in front of them.

“So, Namine, where did you want to paint me?” Roxas asked as they walked through the sea of high grass. 

The top of the Ferris Wheel was just coming into view at the crest of the hill and Namine plucked a clover off as she walked. “Anywhere, really. But I’d especially love to paint you here in the fairgrounds,” she said and tucked the flower behind her ear. “It’s a wonderful atmosphere.”

Axel darted forward out of Xion’s reach as she tried to light him on fire. “Are you going to paint all of us?” he asked, sticking his tongue out at Xion as Riku confiscated the lighter from her.

“I’d like to. Are you guys going to be in town that long?” Namine asked.

“We’re actually stuck here until the police catch Myrtle Corbin’s killer. They won’t let us leave,” Kairi said.

“You probably want to get going, don’t you?” Namine asked. “Your feet itch, right?”

“It’s the wanderer’s spirit,” Riku added.

“Leon really wants to get us out of here because it’s dangerous for us. The police aren’t doing much to stop this psycho,” Kairi explained, “But he’s taking measures to try to protect us as best he can. We use the buddy system and he went out to buy pepper spray for everyone so we have at least a little defense.”

“Pepper spray?” Namine repeated. “Why not a gun?”

“A gun?” Sora yelped out.

Kairi glanced at him questioningly and turned back to Namine. “Leon has a small handgun, but he can’t give all of us a gun. Roxas and Sora aren’t even old enough to carry a gun and with how jumpy everyone is, it’d probably result in a lot of unnecessary trips to the emergency room for blown off toes.” She glanced at Axel. “I can think of one person who would probably shoot himself in the ass.”

“Who me?”

Namine giggled. “So pepper spray then,” she said. “That’s smart. Now, who’s Leon?”

“Leon owns the circus,” Xion put in and hopped Axel in the ass so he went sprawling in the grass with an undignified shriek. Before he could retaliate, Xion latched on to Kairi’s arm for safety. “It says ‘Leon’s’ right in our name.”

“He’s kind of like a father to us,” Riku said gently. “He took us all on when there was no place left for us to go.”

“So, you’ve all been thrown out of your homes?” Namine asked.

“Yes,” Axel said softly, slouching his hands into his pockets.

Kairi shook her head. “My mother died while I was following my dream and I just have no place left to go home to now.”

“I’m sorry,” Namine whispered. “What about you guys?” she asked Sora and Roxas.

“The typical story,” Roxas said with a shrug, but Sora’s face was pale.

By now, they were in the thick of the carnival grounds, having passed through the sea of grass and the neighborhood of travel trailers while they talked. The Ferris Wheel towered to the left like the skeleton of a building, the Freak Tent and High Striker to the right. Dead ahead was the beautiful hand-carved carousel that was Leon’s prize and a little behind that was the stage with its burned curtains where Kairi and Axel did their shows.

“This place is so amazing,” Namine breathed.

“It’s home,” Kairi said softly. 

Leon was just entering the grounds by the time they reached the gates with Namine. He was laden with bags and bags of pepper spray. Riku and Kairi hurried to help him. “Perfect timing,” Leon said. “Is the bathroom all cleaned?”

“Spotless,” Axel said with a grin.

“No thanks to you,” Xion grumbled.

Riku handed them both bags. “Don’t start again.”

“Really you’re like an old married couple,” Kairi said.

“We are not!” they shouted in unison.

Leon laughed and then his eyes fell on Namine. She was so beautiful and pale with platinum hair hanging loose around her face and shoulders and such big lovely cerulean eyes. She was as beautiful as Sora so there was immediately no telling if she was a freak or not. “Hello,” Leon said charmingly. “Who might this be? A new recruit or a friend?”

Namine blushed. 

“Just a friend,” Roxas said. “You know we wouldn’t bring anyone on without your permission and especially not now.”

“Charmed, either way,” Leon said and shook her small hand lightly. “I’m Leon.”

“Namine Waters,” she said, smiling, “I’m an artist.”

“An artist? What brings you here?” he asked.

“I’m going to paint a portrait of Roxas for my debut.” She turned to smile at the freak leaning heavily on his beautiful brother. “Especially together, they’re incredible.”

“Oh?” Leon asked.

Roxas produced the small painting she had given to him as a gift and let Leon look at it. Sora’s face practically leaped off the canvas, his eyes seeming to glow in the tan planes of his face. Beside him, pressed cheek to cheek, was Roxas with his maimed flesh looking more like a ghostly image than real scars. It was a masterful work of art and Namine blushed when Leon told her so and handed the small painting back to Roxas. 

“In a picture like that, I can see how they’re twins,” Leon said, smiling.

Namine’s eyes widened and she looked from Sora to Roxas in quick succession. “They’re twins?” she repeated incredulously.

Sora nodded, hugging Roxas close to his side. “Fraternal,” he said softly.

“Wow,” she breathed. “This is amazing. I’ve never met a pair of twins before, even fraternal ones.”

Sora forced a smile, but Roxas looked away.

For a moment, the group stood together awkwardly. Everyone seemed to want to be staring at Sora and Roxas, but didn’t for some reason. Instead, they favored looking at the sky or ground littered with wrappers and garbage from the show the night before. 

Finally, Leon cleared his throat and brought the cluster out of their awkward stupor. “So, Namine, do you carry pepper spray?” he asked.

“Um, no,” she said softly. 

“Well, if you’re going to be coming here to paint our boys, here,” and he handed her a can of pepper spray. “Before you spray it, shake it to make sure it’s live.”

“Ah, okay,” she said and nervously turned the small canister over in her hands. “Thank you, Leon.”

Leon gave her a smile, the scar bisecting his face changing the impression he gave off from a dangerous carnie to a caring father-figure who had been pulling himself up by his bootstraps for most of his life. “No problem. I hope to see you around more. I think you could be good for our little grouping here.” 

Kairi, Xion, Riku, and Axel—their arms laden with sacks of pepper spray—turned to follow Leon through the carnival grounds to hand them out, but Sora and Roxas remained at the gates with Namine a moment longer. Namine fidgeted and put the pepper spray into her canvas bag. What would her mother say?

“So, I’ll see you around?” she said to Sora and Roxas finally. 

Sora nodded. “When will you come back?”

“The day after tomorrow,” she said. “I have to think of a better way to get all my art supplies here rather than heaping them on my bike. It’s hard to ride with my easel and a large canvas.”

“I can come and help you—”

Roxas put his elbow into Sora’s side and he yelped.

“I’m sorry, Namine. I forgot,” Sora whispered. “It’s not safe to be alone now.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get my big brother to help me. He is good for some things,” Namine said. “By the way, he’s sorry about the other night when he grabbed you.”

Sora smiled. “It’s okay. No harm, no foul.”

Roxas slid him a questioning glance, but Sora pretended not to see.

“Well, I’ll be seeing you,” Namine said with a soft smile at the twins. Then, she picked her up bike and pedaled off down the road, pale hair flying like a banner. Then, she whipped around the corner of the street and was out of sight behind a thick forest of dark trees. A sharp cold breeze blew in from the coast suddenly, chilling the twins to the bone even though they had each other and blinding Namine in a blizzard of her own ghost-pale hair.

X X X

Graaaaah! I’m back from the dead. My brain derailed and there was a lot of cleaning up to do.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	16. Secrets of the Strife Twins?

This chapter seemed so long. I’m not sure why.

X X X

Leon, Kairi, Xion, Riku, and Axel outfitted everyone with a canister of pepper spray and gave a small lesson on how not to use it. Even without firearms, everyone was still jumpy and they didn’t want anyone unnecessarily blinded even if the effects were just temporary. Surprisingly, Roxas and Sora didn’t catch up with them as they had been expecting. Maybe they had gone to Namine’s so she could paint their portrait, but that seemed unlikely this early on.

Sighing heavily, Kairi sat down on the couch in her trailer. “Jeez, I’m not sure I feel any safer,” she said to Riku. “If anyone surprises anyone else, they’re going to get a snootful of pepper spray.”

“At the very least, it’ll keep everyone on their toes. Everyone will be very careful for fear of just that happening,” Riku responded and slid in at the table to rest his elbows on it. “Leon’s clever.”

Xion could be heard shouting outside. “Knock it off, Axel! I said quit it!” She then burst in through the door and stared at them, stunned. “Wow, you guys are already done? We just finished with our route.”

“Probably because we spent less time fighting,” Riku said with a sigh.

“It’s all your fault, Xion,” Axel grumbled.

Xion, for once, ignored him and sat down at the table with Riku. “Where’re Sora and Roxas?”

“I’m not sure,” Kairi said. 

“I’m sure they’re around,” Axel said and sat down on the couch next to her.

“I know that,” Kairi said to him, “but I’m getting worried. They’ve been acting a little weird lately.”

“How so?” Riku asked.

“I know you’ve seen it too. They just look… uneasy,” she murmured.

“We’re all uneasy,” Xion said. “It’s this psycho running around. It’s like when that movie came out and everyone was afraid to take a shower. (1) We’ve got the syndrome.” 

“Is that what that smell is, Xion?” Axel tried to bait her. “You’re too scared to take a shower?”

Xion ignored him again. “It’s nerve-wracking, you know.”

Riku nodded. 

“What about Sora and Roxas?” Kairi put in. “I’m worried about them.”

“If there’s something wrong, you know they’ll talk to us,” Axel said and leaned back into the cushions. “We’re all friends here.”

“Right,” Kairi said, but she didn’t sound convinced. She was still worried about the twins whether or not she actually needed to, she didn’t know, but she was going to worry anyway. These people, these carnies—and in Xion and Axel’s case, these monkeys—were the only family she had left. “I know that.”

…

Leon was uneasy as well. 

First off, he was concerned because he had a small community of people all depending on him to keep them safe and he had no idea how. He had equipped them all with pepper spray, but it was like covering a dung beetle in chocolate. On the outside, it seemed alright, but once you bit into it… If the psycho attacked them, pepper spray wouldn’t do much to stop him, especially if he was determined enough to mess with carnies. Carnies were by nature convicts and freaks and people with troubled pasts—they were dangerous to outsiders.

Leon sighed heavily.

Secondly, he was worried about Roxas and Sora. He couldn’t get what the doctor had said about Roxas’s scars out of his head—“They’re cigarette burns. Every single one of them.” What had those poor twins gone through in their lives that Roxas’s face and chest were covered in such densely-packed cigarette burns? Those kind of things didn’t just happen accidentally. Someone had to sit down, probably tie Roxas down, and deliberately burn into every inch of his skin. It would have been pure hell both to commit and to go through.  
Leon bit his lip. He paced the small space of his Airstream—back and forth, back and forth, back and forth between the driver’s seat and the queen-sized bed in the rear, still unmade from last night since he had gotten up in a hurry to check on everyone—and finally sat down at the small table. For a moment, he stared at his laptop as if it was going to leap up and bite his hand for even thinking about what he was about to do.

He really shouldn’t… 

But Sora and Roxas both seemed more afraid than the others. If they knew what was going on but were to afraid to say it for some unknown reason, then it was Leon’s duty to find out. He had to protect everyone as best he could. And it wouldn’t be hard to just snoop a little. The internet was amazing these days. It could do anything, not like the old days when you had to schlep to the library to find anything out and spend hours going through the old newspapers. Now, just click a button and viola! 

It would be easy.

So, Leon took a deep breath, opened his laptop, and went to Google’s homepage. For a moment, he stared at the empty search bar, hesitating. Then, the words just jumped on the screen as if his fingers had minds of their own. They were almost like separate entities, but he always felt that way about some part of his body. Most of the time, it was the scar on his handsome face, bisecting it cruelly, but even things that felt separate were a part of him, just like his hands.

The “Strife Twins, Roxas and Sora” was all he needed to put in and click search, but he lingered again. 

It wasn’t really any of his business what had happened to those kids. That’s why they had come to the circus, to escape judgment and whatever they were running from in the past. What right did Leon have to dredge anything up? But this psycho… Myrtle Corbin was already dead and nothing would bring her back. If Leon could just be prepared for whatever was coming, he was sure he could protect everyone. 

So, he clicked Search and several things came up immediately. Most were adds for Leon’s circus, but then he found something interesting.

It was a Missing Persons flyer released almost five years ago. That was about the time the twins showed up on Leon’s doorstep when they were twelve, skinny as all hell and holding on to each other like they were the last people on earth. But though the flyer had the twin’s picture on it and the two names, Roxas and Sora, the last name was not Strife, but Heart.

The Heart twins?

Leon searched that.

There seemed to be a lot of propaganda and outcry about this particular issue, so Leon passed over it. He wanted something concrete and assuring. He didn’t need any more boogeymen or rumors. His people were nervous enough. Finally, he found something. This time, a newspaper article came up, boldly and wrenchingly titled, _Professor Heart Arrested for Abuse and Murder_. Following that in quick succession were two more articles, _Heart’s Wife and Daughter Found Dead and Twin Boys Still Missing_. 

Leon sucked in a deep breath and clicked on the link for the first article.

_Professor Ansem Heart of Liberty College was taken into custody late December, just before Christmas. His neighbor, James Wise, called the police saying that he had been hearing atrocious screaming coming from inside the Heart house when he came home. He had no idea when the screaming could have started since he was away from home on a business trip all week._

_When the police arrived, they found that the professor was calmly sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes with a bloody butcher’s knife lying in plain sight on the table beside him. When asked what had happened, the professor didn’t even answer the police._

_“It was weird,” says Officer Lucy McClain. “He was just off in his own world. I don’t think he heard a word that we were saying, even when we read him his rights and cuffed him.”  
The police searched the house for Heart’s wife, daughter, and two twin boys, but there was no sign of them. Analysis of the blood on the knife revealed it to be a mixture of his wife’s, Lillian Heart, thirty-five, and his daughter’s, Katie, nine, blood. His twin sons’, Sora and Roxas, eleven, whereabouts are still unknown at this time._

Leon shuddered, sitting back from the screen. 

But his hand separated from him and clicked the next article.

_Lillian and Katie Heart’s bodies were found early this morning through the efforts of cadaver dogs. They had been buried together in a shallow grave in the woods surrounding the Heart house. Lillian’s jaw had been broken and she had been stabbed eighteen times in the chest. Katie had been strangled and stabbed once in the face, directly through the eye._

_Further analysis of Katie’s body revealed a long history of unexplained wounds. Her lower stomach had been burned with cigarettes, her fingers and hands contained many small fractures, her body was covered in bruises, and she was severely malnourished._

_Investigation of Lillian Heart’s body revealed countless facial fractures, all synonymous with spousal abuse._

_The police, led by Officer Lucy McClain, searched the house and found both Lillian and Katie’s diaries. What they feared was confirmed. Professor Ansem Heart had been abusing not only his wife, hurting her so badly that she couldn’t even protect her children, but he had also been abusing his young daughter. Though no journal belonging to either son was found, there are several accounts in Katie and Lillian’s diaries recounting Heart burning his sons’._

Leon didn’t want to read the last article. 

Not even knowing that the twins were safe here made him feel any better.

_The search for the Heart twins, Roxas and Sora, now twelve, is being called off after nearly two months of searching. The woods surrounding the Heart house where Lillian and Katie’s bodies were found have been combed twice. Both boys are presumed dead at this time._

Leon’s breath caught and he quickly searched the name Ansem Heart. 

The man had been convicted of murder and child abuse, but rather than being sent to prison. He had been sent to an institution for the mentally insane, Windy Hills Asylum, and would be remaining there for the rest of his life. 

Leon let out a sigh of relief. 

So Sora and Roxas had been through hell, but their personal demon was safely locked away. He closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair. Chances were, this lunatic was just that—a lunatic with a Hitler Complex about freaks and carnies. It was probably not as much to worry about as it seemed. 

He got himself a mug of hot coffee and turned on the TV, listening absently as he shuffled about his Airstream. 

“In other news,” the anchorwoman began, “known child abuser, wife beater, and murderer, Ansem Heart has escaped from the Windy Hills Asylum three days ago. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the police immediately and is asked not to approach him. He is considered armed and dangerous.”

The mug crashed out of Leon’s hands and shattered on the floor.

X X X

(1) Who remembers “Psycho” and the scary shower scene?

Forgive my poor newspaper articles. I’m not a reporter.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	17. A Betrayal? What Leon Has To Do

I’ve got one of those stories going where the main characters are hardly around and everyone else makes them the main character by talking and worrying about them all the time. Does that happen to anyone else? It seems to happen to me a lot.

X X X

Leon first burst into the trailer Axel and Riku had been sharing, but it was deserted, dark and cold. Then he exploded through the door of Kairi and Xion’s trailer and five sets of eyes snapped up to meet him. Sora and Roxas’s cerulean sky-blue orbs were not among them. 

“Where are Sora and Roxas?” Leon asked, panting.

Kairi got to her feet in a flash, her face concerned. “Leon, what happened?”

He opened his mouth but nothing came out save a gasping desperate wheeze for breath. Wow, was he out of shape. He had run from his Airstream in the front of the carnival to the rear where the neighborhood of travel trailers was and he was out of breath. He needed to get to the gym and he vowed that if he got all his people out of here alive, he would treat himself to a membership to some chain so he could work out while he traveled with his circus.

Kairi pushed him onto the couch, shooing Axel out of the way. “Take a breath. What’s going on?”

“Where are Sora and Roxas?” he panted out.

“We’re not sure. Why?” Kairi asked.

Leon bit his tongue and cursed. 

“Leon?” Riku added from beside him. 

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Kairi narrowed her eyes. “We are not stupid. What happened, Leon?”

He stared into her twilight-colored eyes a moment. It wasn’t his right to tell them what he knew about the twins, just like it hadn’t been his right to snoop, but he felt as if the hourglass they lived in had suddenly been overturned and time was running out. Roxas’s face had been all over the news when he had been attacked and the twins’ deadly father had escaped from the asylum and Myrtle had been killed. It was just too much to all be coincidence and now was not the time for sensitivity. Knowing what was coming could be the difference between life and death now.

Leon opened his mouth to speak, but then the door opened and the twins stepped in.

Those blue eyes of their flashed over the assembly of people in Kairi and Xion’s trailer. The light played on the scarred side of Roxas’s face, illuminating the damage in a hideous way Leon had never seen before and should probably recreate in the Freak Tent. Sora, on the other hand, just looked even more beautiful with the light playing on his skin and in his eyes.

“What happened?” Sora asked, helping Roxas sit down. “Leon, you’re white as a ghost. Let me get you a glass of water.”

“Is something wrong?” Roxas asked the others as his twin fetched a glass down from the cabinet and filled it.

“Here,” Sora said to Leon and sat down beside Roxas. “What’s wrong, guys?”

“Leon was just about to tell us,” Kairi said patiently.

Leon swallowed his tongue. He couldn’t do it. Roxas and Sora trusted him. They trusted him completely and that included trusting him not to dredge up their dark pasts, but he had to protect his carnies. He couldn’t keep the twins’ trust and protect the others at the same time! But who did he chose to abandon for the sake of the other? Leon took a sip of water, choked for a long moment, and Riku patted him on the back.

“Leon?” Kairi asked, concerned.

Was there any way he could do both? Tell them what was going on without betraying Sora and Roxas? 

“Nothing,” Leon choked out when he finished hacking. “I was just worried when I couldn’t find you anywhere. I saw something about an escaped mental patient on the news. Ansem Heart is his name. He’s been loose for three days and that’s when this all started.” 

All the blood drained from Sora’s face and his eyes widened, but Roxas held back his shock much better. Maybe because he only had half a face to express himself with, but Leon knew he had struck their nerves. Deep down, he had rattled both twins to the core.

“I was just… worried,” Leon said with an uneasy smile. “I want everyone to be careful.”

Kairi looked at him closely, looking for all the world like she didn’t believe a word he was saying.

“We will be careful, Leon,” Riku said with a smile. “We’re always careful.”

Leon returned Riku’s smile, gave Sora’s narrow shoulder a squeeze as he passed, and left the trailer. Outside, he sat down on the step for a moment and put his head between his knees. He sucked in a steadying breath, pulled himself back to his feet, and went to take care of his carousel. It didn’t matter what dangers and bad things waited. As a carnie, he had to protect himself and the world just kept on turning despite what he was going through. As carnies, like his hands, he was separate from everything else.

…

“We’ve got to grab something out of our trailer,” Roxas said suddenly, clearing his throat, “Sora.” He reached out for his twin and Sora took his hand, their palms sliding together and he felt the scars on Sora’s palm like rough calluses.

“We’ll come with you,” Kairi offered.

“That’s alright,” Sora said. “It’ll just take a minute. We’ll be right back.” 

And before anyone could protest further or attempt to follow after them, he hitched Roxas’s body against his own and the twins left the trailer. The others remained frozen, staring after their friends. Then, they exchanged worried glances. What was that about? With Leon and with the twins? What was going on?

Sora helped Roxas sit down on the bed and then paced to the window, nervously looking out. “God, Roxas, he was here,” Sora whispered. “He stabbed you in the back.”

“We don’t know it was him, Sora. It could have just been a nameless psycho with a Hitler Complex just like Riku said.”

“But you know it wasn’t,” Sora said. He rubbed his thumbs on the scars on his palms, a nervous habit he hadn’t resorted to in years. “You heard what Leon said. Ansem Heart. He’s escaped. He’s back. And he’s coming for us.” 

Roxas bit his lip. “There’s no way he could have found us. You know that.”

“But he did, Roxas. He always said he’d find us and he did.”

“He didn’t,” Roxas repeated.

“What about Myrtle Corbin?”

“What about her? If he had come here, why would he have killed Myrtle? He would have taken us and that would have been that.”

“But you were stabbed,” Sora protested. “He tried to kill you.”

“He wasn’t in our trailer, Sora. He wasn’t the one that did that to me.”

“But the blood on the walls in the women’s showers,” Sora whispered. “What about that?”

“Why would he torment the girls? He’d have no way of knowing that you like Kairi or even that we’re friends with them.”

“He’s tormenting us, Roxas. All over again…”

“Sora.”

“And now,” Sora crossed the trailer to kneel at his twin’s feet, wrapping his arms round Roxas tightly, “he’s coming back to finish the job.”

Roxas embraced his twin and they sat in silence for a long time, just like they used to when they were children cowering in that house where all those terrible things had happened. He stroked Sora’s thick chocolate hair and Sora’s finger traced the path of burn scars on Roxas’s back.

“Are you afraid?” Roxas whispered.

“Yes.”

“What do you want to do?”

Sora sat back, his eyes full of tears and he just stared into Roxas’s eyes for a long moment. Then, he looked away and Roxas knew what he wanted to do. He hugged Sora again, staggered to his feet, and looked out the window. On the horizon, dusk was falling and darkness was coming swiftly.

X X X

I really love the character Leon is turning in to.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	18. Escape into Darkness

I fooled a couple people, but not everyone.

X X X

It was dark and quiet. The sun had set in an elaborate bouquet of golds, purples, and reds, but had faded out into deep midnight blue now. The stars spotted the clear cloudless sky and the moon hung full and round like a disco ball all full of light. In fact, the moonlight was so bright that flashlights weren’t even necessary. 

“They’re gone!”

The shout pulled Leon from a sound sleep. He had fallen asleep on the couch, exhausted with worry, but content with the fact that everyone knew what they were dealing with and would be alright now. It was his first good two hours of sleep since Myrtle Corbin had been murdered.

“They’re gone!”

Then, there was banging on the door of his Airstream. Leon fell off the couch, rushed to the door, and yanked it open. Kairi, Xion, Axel, and Riku were standing there in the dark, armed with their pepper spray and flashlights. Kairi’s face was ghost-white and worried.

“What?” Leon asked.

“They’re gone!”

“Who’s gone?” he asked, taking her shoulders and shaking her gently. “Kairi?”

“Sora and Roxas! They’re gone!”

“What?” Leon shouted. “What do you mean?”

Kairi’s blue eyes flooded with tears, but she charged onwards. She was a strong girl. “I don’t know! They went to get something out of their trailer and when they didn’t come back, we went to look for them and they’re gone!”

“Did someone take them? Was there blood?”

“No,” she moaned and shook her head. 

“Their drawers were empty,” Xion put in. “It’s almost like… they just ran away. They just left.”

Leon put his hand on her shoulder too and pulled the two girls to him. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them,” he told them. 

Riku’s eyes glowed, bright green and a little sick looking. “Where do we start?” he asked.

Leon pressed the girls closer, feeling Kairi’s fingers dig into his chest through his shirt. “I don’t know,” he confessed because Axel and Riku were waiting for him to say something, to say anything, to tell them what to do to stop the insanity that was slowly tearing their world apart. “I really don’t know,” he whispered into Xion’s dark hair.

…

Namine was pedaling home from her friend Selphie’s house. It was after dark and she was nervous because Selphie’s father had an addiction to watching the news and told the girls about an escaped maniac—who had slaughtered and abused his wife and young daughter while his twin sons were still missing even today—had escaped from his asylum prison. Then, there was the psycho that had been killing circus freaks, like Myrtle Corbin, and attacked Roxas and tormented the girls with fake blood. What was the world coming to? 

Then, she saw them. 

Namine’s first thought was that she wanted to paint them like that.

Her second was—what are they doing?

Sora and Roxas were standing beneath the hutch of the bus stop, waiting, pressed so close together that they looked like they wanted to share one body. They were cast deeply in shadow, as if hiding, with two bags resting at their feet. Unmoving, they sat there. There was something about them that said they had done this before, run away, and they knew what they were doing no matter how much they hated to be doing it again. There was grief and fear in them.

She pedaled over to them, the balding rear tire of her bike skidding on the pavement. “Hey guys, what are you up to this late at night?”

Roxas’s eyes flashed up at her and Sora turned his face sharply away. His cheeks caught the light, wet. He was crying.

“Sora? Roxas?” she whispered.

“What do you want, Namine?” Roxas snapped at her.

She was startled. His voice was so sharp, mean almost. “I’m on my way home from my friend’s. What are you doing?”

“We’re leaving.”

“In the middle of the night?” she asked incredulously.

“It’s none of your business,” Roxas snapped.

“Stop it,” Sora whispered, his fingers fisting in his twin’s shirt. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”

Roxas looked down at his twin and hugged him closer to his side. 

Sora sniffled. “We have to leave, Namine, right now.”

“Why?” she breathed. 

“So there’s no one to stop us and no one to say goodbye to,” Sora murmured.

“You left without telling anyone where you’re going?”

“It’s better that way,” he whispered.

“Why are you running away?” Namine asked them.

“We have to,” Sora said.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Namine murmured, sitting down beside Sora and gently taking a hold of his narrow shoulder. “What about your friends? You’re leaving them hanging and they’re going to think something bad happened to you. If you’re afraid to be at the fairgrounds, you can come stay with me. My mother won’t mind.”

Tears rolled down Sora’s cheeks and he turned to look at Roxas.

“No,” Roxas said. “It’s not a good idea. What if he hurts her?”

“How could he find us?” Sora whispered. 

“Sora, no. I don’t like this.”

“Please,” Namine said softly. “I think you’ll come to regret this in the morning. Just come with me.”

And Roxas was weak against only one things and that was Sora. So when Sora turned to him and gave him that soft puppy-dog expression, there was nothing Roxas could do to stop him. Maybe looking back, Roxas would wish he had been able to tell his brother ‘no’ and get them on the bus out of the small town, but instead he nodded. And the trio headed to Namine’s house.

…

“Namine, is that you? Or is it Hayner?”

“It’s me, Mom,” Namine called through the cottage. “Where are you?”

“Kitchen,” Aerith called to her daughter. “I hear extra footsteps. Is that Selphie with you?”

“No, Mom,” Namine said and pushed open the swinging kitchen door. 

The Waters’ kitchen was a beautiful place, even more beautiful than something out of a picture book. The walls were painted with a lovely mural of a cottage in the snowy mountains at sunset, the aurora of the sky filled with celestial maidens, gods, and stars. The counters were black and silver granite and the island was done up with a brightly-colored mosaic of the sun at high noon with the crescent moon curving in an embrace against the sun’s right side and spreading fingers of stars. There was a table pushed into a bay window, set with three places for supper with an antique candelabra glowing brightly at its center. Overhead, a rack of brass cooking pots jangled merrily.

“Wow,” Sora whispered.

Then, there was a lovely woman in a pink dress standing at the stove, cooking and humming happily. She had long thick brown hair twisted in a braid down her back, tied with a pink ribbon, and there was some blue paint on the back of her neck. Namine went to embrace her mother. And when the woman turned, the family resemblance was clear. Well, kind of clear… Namine was white pale with those pale blue eyes and platinum tresses and always wore pale colors, but it looked as if Aerith had gotten all the color her daughter had lost. She had the brightest green eyes and such thick lustrous brown hair that it almost looked like a cascade of melted chocolate. But they had the same face, the same gentle kind sweet face and tender smile and soft unassuming eyes.

Even so, Roxas turned away to hide the damage to him while Sora was drawn irresistibly forward.

“My goodness, Namine. Is this boy a model?” Aerith asked, but she hugged Sora without waiting for an answer. Sora melted into those arms, his eyes closing and a sigh of bliss escaping him. As if sensing this, Aerith didn’t let him go right away as she had been planning to.

“Mom, this is Sora and his twin, Roxas. They’re carnies.”

Sora tensed, but Aerith patted his back.

“Don’t worry, Sora,” Namine said softly and pulled Roxas by the hand into the room. “Mom is just like me.”

“Namine hasn’t told me anything about you. How about giving me a little to go on?” Aerith said with a beautiful smile. 

“No,” Roxas said coldly.

But Sora, the gigantic sap lulled into a relaxed state by the promise of a friendly ear, smiled up at Aerith. She hugged him lightly and Roxas saw the familial love that Sora so missed flowing like a cloak around his younger twin. Quickly, he grasped Sora’s wrist and pulled him away, speaking his name firmly.

“Roxas,” Sora said. “I want to tell her.”

Roxas’s eyes narrowed and he let go of his twin as if burned. “They tell her, Sora, but just tell her about you.”

The pulse in Sora’s throat beat quickly, his heart rate visible through his thin skin. Aerith was still smiling, still waiting patiently, but Sora backed away from her now, reminded of the love he both cherished and desired, but could never ever have. Roxas was all he had left and he could never have anything else. If you loved, it was taken and then it hurt and it never stopped hurting. Sora’s heart couldn’t take any more of that so he didn’t even pursue Kairi, who he loved dearly.

“I’m sorry,” Roxas said because Sora couldn’t speak. “We have to go.”

“Wait!” Namine pleaded. 

But the twins turned and vanished into the woods surrounding the house as if they were the ghosts of great trees. The front door slammed loudly, like the condemning of a judge’s gavel.

Namine raced to the door and yanked it open, but they were already gone. “Sora! Roxas!” she shouted, her voice echoing back with no answer save the howling winds through the forest. She whirled back to face her mother, but Aerith was already standing just behind her. “Mom,” Namine said desperately.

Aerith put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder and said softly, “Those are two people who have been hurt a lot, Namine.”

“What should I do?” Namine whispered.

“Go,” was all Aerith said. 

A cold gust of wind howled through the woods surrounding the cottage. Somewhere, there was the distinct crack of a branch breaking off and crashing to the ground below. A bird screamed in response and took flight. If a tree falls in a forest and no one’s around to hear it, does it make a sound?

X X X

Some people think this is no longer a Namine and Roxas story. I assure you otherwise. It’s just slow in coming.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	19. The Search

I had to set up for the next chapter, split everyone up and get ready, you know. Which means if I’m doing that… something epic is going to happen soon! The question is—epic good or epic bad? “To be or not to be, that is the question!”

X X X

The small search party for the Strife née Heart twins—Kairi, Riku, Axel, and Xion, lead by Leon—was gathered at the entrance to the fairgrounds when Namine screamed up on her bicycle, pale hair flying. Sora and Roxas weren’t there. If they hadn’t returned home upon leaving her cottage, where were they? Namine hadn’t seen them at the bus station on her way over and she didn’t think they were wandering around the woods the framed her house.

“Namine?” Xion asked, her voice rising to an octave only dogs could hear. “What are you doing here?”

“I found Sora and Roxas a the bus stop—”

“What?” Kairi broke in, but Namine ignored her, continuing as if she hadn’t been interrupted.

“—I brought them to my house to stop them from leaving, but they ran out on me for no reason and now I can’t find them.” She stopped, panting.

Leon put his hand on her heaving shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “We need to split up. Having Namine evened up our numbers so let’s take advantage. Xion, you and Axel go to the bus stations and look there. Stay with each other, don’t lose sight, and,” he fixed them both with a stern look, “don’t fight.”

Xion didn’t even protest being paired up with Axel, only nodded to Leon with her blue eyes wide and worried. Axel exchanged a glance with Riku and Riku gave him a small nod, something silently exchanged between them that Namine didn’t understand. Maybe it was just a way for close friends to say be careful without saying anything at all because Kairi shared the same look with Xion. 

Then, the pair headed off towards the station together, almost running down the street.

Roxas and Sora must be very important to them all, Namine realized. Being circus freaks, these people were probably the only family they had and they were willing to go to the edges of the earth to protect their own. After all, no one else would, not even the police. It was probably incredibly strange for her to be here, concerned and wanting to help in any way she could, but they were taking her presence in stride, guided by Leon.

“Riku, you go with Namine and look around town for them,” Leon continued, turning to face the remaining members of the group.

“Right,” Riku nodded. 

He wasn’t the best person to pair with Namine since his people skills were quite low on the scale—Kairi would have been better in that respect—but he understood Leon’s reasoning. Riku was big and strong. If something happened, he had the best chance of protecting himself and Namine. And, if they happened to find Sora and Roxas, his brute strength could tuck one twin under each arm and carry them back to the fairgrounds whether they wanted to go or not.

“Kairi, you’re with me,” Leon said. “We’re going to check everywhere else.”

The redhead nodded and exchanged the same glance she had shared with Xion with Riku. 

He nodded softly to her before turning back to Namine. “You lead the way,” he said.

“Okay!” she said and mounted up on her bike. 

Kairi and Leon turned away, hurrying in the opposite direction that Xion and Axel had gone. 

With an urgency that amazed Riku, Namine led him a little ways up the street and hung a left, leading him he didn’t even know where as they scoured the small city as best they could in search of the rogue circus twins, but he kept up with her even though she was on her bicycle thanks to his long legs. Suddenly, he said a silent prayer to a God he had never believed in. “Please, let us find them before something bad happens,” he whispered both to himself, to Namine, and to God. He wasn’t sure if anyone heard him because he didn’t really get an answer.

…

Xion and Axel arrived at the bus station in record time, panting. 

Outside, darkness was beginning to fall and a chill was descending on the world. The streetlamps began to flicker on even though there was just the faintest trace of sunlight left on the horizon. The bus station, lit up like a Christmas tree, looked like a welcome sanctuary when the two panting carnies rounded the corner and pushed in through the wobbly glass doors. At a quick glance, Axel didn’t see Sora or Roxas, but the small brothers could easily be hidden by the crowd purchasing tickets, picking up loved ones, and boarding the countless buses. 

“Axel, you check over there at the stop. I’m going to ask the attendant if they’ve had anyone matching Sora and Roxas’s description buy a bus ticket,” Xion said and turned away from him, in a hurry to find the twins among the crowded station. 

But Axel caught her wrist. 

She whirled, ready to snap at him that this was not the time for his bullshit about following the directions of a woman, but his green eyes captivated her and she held her tongue. He actually looked… earnest and concerned and his face was pale. The tattoos of teardrops beneath his eyes looked like bruises, like shadows from not sleeping.

“No,” he said. “We’ll stay together. You heard what Leon said.”

Xion stared at him a moment and then nodded finally. “Alright. Let’s check the stop first,” she murmured.

Even after she agreed, Axle didn’t let go of her wrist. His fingers felt cold and it felt as if he was trembling slightly. 

“Axel?” she whispered, questioningly.

“What?”

“Is something wrong? Your fingers are freezing.” She didn’t mention the trembling. “Do you want a lighter?”

He slid his hand down her wrist until he was able to thread their fingers together and squeezed tightly. Then, shockingly, he shook his head. 

“Axel?” she breathed out.

“Stay close,” was all he said. “I have a…” 

“Axel?”

“I have a bad feeling,” he confessed. 

Xion’s heart skipped a beat and her fingers tightened around Axel’s. “A bad feeling,” she whispered and scanned the crowded station. What could Axel possibly mean? But he didn’t elaborate and began pulling her towards the stop to check for Sora and Roxas and she didn’t get a chance to ask him. Her heart continued to pound.

…

Leon, on a hunch, decided they would check the hospitals first, but the hunch proved to be nothing more than a wild goose chase. No one matching Sora or Roxas had come in and the night was even slow enough that the paramedics would have remembered both a freak and a beautiful blue-eyed boy. Leon believed them, but he didn’t know where to start looking now.

Shivering the chilly night, Kairi hugged herself and Leon took of his heavy jacket to put around her shoulders. “Thanks,” she said, hugging the jacket close.

Leon only smiled and looked out over the darkening street. “So what now?” He asked her.

She rolled her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I have no idea where they would have gone. The circus is their home and we travel so it’s not like they could be at a friend’s house and I know Sora doesn’t hang out in the cities we go to.” Her voice cracked. “I have no idea where to look for them.”

Leon patted her shoulder. “We’ll find them. We have to.”

She nodded, but her eyes shone with tears in the darkness. 

“We will,” he insisted.

Kairi didn’t argue, but he felt her doubt. “Where could they be?” she murmured softly.

Where were Roxas and Sora? And where was Ansem Heart, the man who had tormented Sora and Roxas as children? And where was Myrtle Corbin’s killer? Was it possible that Ansem Heart and Myrtle’s murderer were one in the same? There were just too many questions and not enough answers.

…

Namine’s big brother, Hayner, was just leaving the arcade when he saw his sister. She was kind of hard to miss to begin with, but she was even more obvious in the darkness—always wearing white the way she did with her pale hair loose and flying and her bare arms and legs pebbled with goose flesh that he could seen even from a distance. She was riding her bike, painted in an allure of colors and decorated with flowers that she had painted on herself. Oh yeah, that was his sister alright.

Then, he saw the burly circus freak with the bright glowing green eyes following her. For a moment, his heart leaped up into his throat. Was that circus freak stalking his sister? Was he going to hurt her? But then Namine stopped pedaling and turned back to call to the freak and Hayner’s heart relaxed only to panic anew. What was his sister doing with a carnie? Were they on a date? What was going on?

Swiftly, Hayner followed after his sister.

…

Roxas pulled Sora through the darkness by the hand, hurrying his twin along and wincing each time he became aware of the scars on his twin’s palm again. He knew that since they had detoured to Namine’s house and then fled, she would return to the carnival and tell Leon that they were trying to run away. If Leon found them, he would drag them home to the carnival and get the truth out of them. Then, the others would find out about their twisted past and what Roxas had done. 

“Hurry, Sora,” Roxas whispered into the darkness.

“Roxas,” Sora panted, pulling back on his twin’s hand. “I don’t… I don’t want to go!”

“We have to and you know it,” Roxas said. “Do you want him to find us? You know he’ll kill everyone we love.”

“Roxas,” Sora pleaded.

“No, Sora. We have to go.”

“What if we killed him?”

Roxas stopped dead. “Sora,” he said warningly.

Sora looked away sharply. “I’m sorry.”

“Let’s go,” Roxas repeated.

The Strife née Heart twins once again fled into the dark night of a foreign city. The air as cold and wet, threatening rain but nothing had fallen yet, and the atmosphere was thick with tension. Something evil was stalking in the darkness like the metaphorical nightmare monster had escaped its prison from under the bed to hunt in the real world. Something bad was going to happen, but what?

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	20. The Attack

Hmm, this was not how I intended this chapter to go.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

X X X

Leon couldn’t say exactly when he became aware of the presence following himself and Kairi down the dark alleyway between the hospital and the jewelers’ shop next door, but suddenly, he was very aware of the stalking presence. When he glanced at Kairi and saw that her twilight-colored eyes were darting from side to side in search of what she also felt, he wondered how long he had been unaware of it. He was used to dealing with nice people at the carnival, but Kairi was a contortionist, a freak. Perhaps she was used to stretching her senses to the limit to protect herself. It was all she had to rely on over the years.

Feigning a yawn and a stretch, Leon put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close against his side.

“Leon, do you hear that?” the contortionist whispered.

“Yes,” he whispered to her, dipping his head.

“Something bad is…” she murmured.

He nodded, squeezing her.

They walked from the alley, pressed close together, but Kairi was beginning to wish they had all stayed together in a massive group. There was safety in numbers and an army of circus freaks was not something the average mugger would attempt to tackle. Riku and Xion could probably scare them off with no problem. Riku’s glowing eyes coupled with Xion’s vampire fangs was quite a scary sight—they were very popular on Halloween along with Roxas. She dug her fingers into Leon’s back worriedly. What if this person following them was the one who killed Myrtle Corbin?

“Leon,” Kairi whispered. “What was Myrtle’s cause of death?”

He took a shaky breath. “She was stabbed, just like Roxas was.”

“Roxas is still alive,” Kairi whispered. “What killed Myrtle?”

“She was stabbed multiple times, Kairi, and no one found her until morning when one of her friends went in to look for her. She bled to death.” Leon glanced at her. “Why are you asking me this?”

“I wanted to know if there was a chance we could live.”

Leon squeezed her body close. “Kairi, we’re going to be alright.”

She didn’t answer him.

They stepped out of the mouth of the alley and into the amber glow of a streetlamp. There, Leon stopped and turned back to see if the presence would follow them. The alleyway was dark and unmoving. No one emerged from the darkness. From his pocket, Leon took out the small canister of pepper spray and shook it to be sure it was live. Kairi fished hers out as well and held it in front of her, clutching Leon’s jacket around her shoulders with her free hand. Together, they waited, but no one emerged. They remained alone on the street.

Leon let out a sigh of relief. “It was just our imaginations,” he whispered to Kairi.

“Y-yeah,” she whispered in return.

…

Axel and Xion stepped outside of the bus station and into the relative darkness of the city. There were bright streetlamps to the left and right of them, casting twin shadows in both directions down the sidewalk. They had looked everywhere, but the twins were nowhere to be found. Axel had finally released her hand, but he remained close, looking left and right constantly like a watchdog. His nervousness made Xion’s skin crawl.

“What now?” she asked him.

“We should try to meet up with the others,” Axel said.

“But what if the twins come to the station while we’re gone?” she asked.

He shook his head. “They won’t.”

Then, they heard Kairi screaming in desperation and fear. Her voice echoed in the empty sky, bouncing off the buildings and tearing towards them like a lost child in search of the shelter of a parent. Once it reached their ears, they set off running in the direction of her voice. What happened to Kairi and Leon?

…

Riku and Namine had explored the streets at random, no rhyme or reason to it. Now, Riku’s sense of direction was way off and he had no hope of ever getting back to the carnival grounds or even back to Main Street, but Namine continued on with the assurance of someone who had lived in this city all her life. She hung a few more lefts and a few more rights and viola, they were back on Main Street in the bright light of a streetlamp.

“Man,” Riku said with a sigh.

“I don’t know where to look anymore,” Namine whispered. Her voice was soft, cracking with tears.

Riku put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t cry. I’m sure one of the others found them,” he said as gently as he could.

“You really think so?” she sniffled.

He nodded. 

She pushed her hair behind her ears and dredged up some more resolve. “We should try to catch up with them, Riku.”

He nodded again. 

Namine kicked off and began to pedal her bike up the street in fresh search. What a remarkable girl she was, Riku thought as he followed after her. It would be good for Roxas to be around her, to see himself in the new light of her paintings. It would be good for him. That was… if they could ever find the twins.

Suddenly, Namine stopped dead. “What was that?” she asked.

“What?” Riku said.

“Listen.”

Kairi’s scream shook the night.

“Let’s go!” Namine shouted before the words could even work themselves up in Riku’s mouth. She raced off on her bike and there was nothing Riku could do but follow. He didn’t get a chance to warn her that the circus freaks were being killed or that there might be something dangerous about the twins. She was already almost out of sight by the time he started after her.

…

The sound of Kairi screaming raced through the empty city streets. Roxas, still pulling Sora by the wrist, prayed that it wasn’t what he thought, but Sora’s ears were sharper and honed for any strange sound in the night. He stopped in his tracks, pulling back on Roxas’s arm sharply.

“That’s Kairi,” Sora said.

“It’s not,” Roxas told him.

Sora’s blue eyes glowed in the darkness. “Yes, it was. Something happened to her.”

“Sora, we have to get out of here,” Roxas said coldly, his fingers digging into his twin’s thin wrist.

Sora yanked away from him. Roxas’s nails raked his flesh, drawing blood and leaving bruises. “What’s wrong with you? They’re our friends.”

“And it we stay with them, we’ll only make it worse!” Roxas protested. “You know what he’ll do to us. He’ll catch us again.”

Kairi screamed again, desperation in her voice. “Leon!” She shouted something else, something they couldn’t understand.

Sora glared at his twin. “I don’t care, Roxas. I want to help!”

Roxas stared at his twin a moment. “Sora, we promised!”

Sora’s eyes filled with tears, but he turned his back on Roxas and ran towards the sounds of Kairi screaming. Roxas took a step after his brother, but hesitated. His mangled body ached, once again feeling the phantom pains of the wounds inflicted on him so long ago. He froze in place, unable to follow, unable to move.

Kairi screamed again.

…

The man had sprung on Leon and Kairi out of nowhere. One moment, they thought they were safe beneath the light of the streetlamp and out of the dark alley. The next, someone had leaped down on Leon from the rooftops. Kairi saw the flash of the blade like a sliver of moonlight in the darkness and then the wet squelch of flesh tearing. Leon shouted out, grabbed fistfuls of the man’s shirt with both hands, and ripped him down over his head, slamming the man’s body into the ground. The knife flashed out again, catching Leon in the calf.

“Run, Kairi!” Leon shouted.

X X X

Oooooh, cliffhanger! I’m so evil!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	21. Aftershock, Meeting Up

Not very many people liked my “Merry Christmas” cliffhanger! Boo!

X X X

Riku caught up with Namine a second later, grabbing her by the seat of her bike.

“What—?” she gasped out.

“Stay here!” he ordered. “It’s not safe!”

“But—”

“Just do it! Stay here!” 

“Riku—”

His glowing green eyes were so vehement that Namine’s heart stopped. 

He was afraid for her life and the lives of his friends. If she went with him, he would have to protect her and wouldn’t be able to save Leon and Kairi if that needed him. He was begging her—stay here out of the way where it was safe so he could do what he had to.

She could only nod.

…

“Run, Kairi!”

But Kairi was not the running type—never had been and never would be. Someone had killed Myrtle Corbin, someone had stabbed Roxas, and someone had terrorized her and Xion in the showers. There’s a point in every woman’s life where she’s rolled around too much and she just isn’t going to roll over anymore. For Kairi, that moment was now. From between her breasts where she had stashed the small canister, the contortionist produced her pepper spray. 

“Leon, get out of the way!” she shouted at him instead.

Stunned, Leon just stared at her. With his attention diverted, the man punched Leon in the gut. Leon’s body slammed him backwards into a dumpster with a crash and the assailant sprung on Kairi like a feral animal, snarling and shrieking. 

“Circus freak! Fucking die!” he howled.

Kairi planted her feet, grit her teeth, stood her ground, and pepper sprayed him right in the face. “Bastard!” she screamed.

That was all the fight that asshole had left in him. It went to show just how much of a weak cowardly bastard he was! Clutching his face, he collapsed, howling in agony and tearing and drooling and getting snot everywhere. Disgusted, Kairi kicked the knife out of his hand, wrapped a scarf around her nose and mouth in the burning peppered air, and went to Leon’s side.

“Are you okay?” she asked him gently.

Leon smiled. “Kairi, you’re an angel.”

She grinned. “Not me! I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Then, she turned serious. “Blood? Where did he get you?”

“In the leg and he got my hand when I grabbed him,” Leon murmured.

Kairi pulled down her scarf, tore it, and deftly wrapped Leon’s injuries. She was just helping him stand when Axel and Xion barreled down the alley, hand in hand, pressed close. They must have heard her scream when the man surprised them, Kairi realized. After the loser had been dispatched so easily, she almost felt bad for scaring them.

“Kairi!” Xion gasped and immediately through her arms around her friend. “You’re okay!”

Axel pulled Leon up the rest of the way. “Man, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Kairi took care of him. I’m glad to see that the pepper spray came in handy.”

“It sure did!” Kairi said cheerfully, prying Xion off. “Could this be the guy who killed Myrtle or attacked Roxas?”

Leon toed him. “I doubt it.”

“What?” Xion gasped.

“Too sloppy. He was probably just a copycat. Whoever killed Myrtle and attacked Roxas was slick enough to get passed without anyone seeing them,” Leon said softly. “This guy just jumped us.”

From the left, Riku joined them, gasping and out of breath. “Everyone…!”

From the right, Sora did. Roxas wasn’t with him. 

“Is everyone okay?” Sora asked breathlessly. He was pale and shaky-looking and his wrist was ringed with bruises and blood. “Kairi? Leon?”

“We’re okay, Sora,” Kairi said lightly, reaching out to embrace him. She knew he felt her eyes on his wrist, but she didn’t say anything about the new injury. “How about you? We were looking everywhere for you and Roxas. Where were you?”

He swallowed. “We were leaving.”

“Why?” Leon asked gently and touched Sora’s shoulder.

“Because… it’s not safe for us to be near you.”

Axel crouched beside the writhing man Kairi had maced, bound his wrists with Xion’s scarf, and stood up. “Well, in case you haven’t noticed, carnies can take care of themselves.”

Sora forced a smile. “You don’t understand,” he whispered.

Riku wrapped his long arms around the grouping of his friends and family in a strange sort of relieved group hug. Even Axel didn’t pull away, showing just how meaningful and desperate that had all been at the thought of losing each other. “So, help us understand, Sora. What are you so afraid of? What’s chasing you and Roxas?”

Sora took a deep breath.

…

Namine was sitting on the curb beside her bike, shivering and afraid. She was alone in the darkness, feeling like a pale moth fluttering against the glass—b-bump, b-b-bump, b-bump—her soft body hitting over and over. Or was that only the beat of her heart against the cage of her ribs? She shivered.

“Namine!”

She jumped and whirled to face Hayner. “What are you doing out here?” she snapped at him.

“I think the more appropriate question, kid sister, would be what are you doing out here?”

“I’m helping search for a friend,” she said doggedly. 

He narrowed his eyes. “What friend?”

She snapped at him. “None of your business!”

He grabbed her arm. “It is so! You’re my little sister!”

“Let go of me!” she growled. “You don’t understand anything.”

“Apparently, you don’t! What are you thinking hanging around with circus freaks? They’re criminals!”

“Not all of them!” she shouted at him.

“Are you insane?” Hayner shouted. “Yes they are! How do you think Hamburger Face got a face like that?”

“He was probably born that way!”

“He was fucking burned, Namine!”

Her heart skipped a beat. “You’re a liar,” she whispered. “How would you know?”

“You remember my friend, Luke—”

“The druggie,” she broke in. “What about him?”

“Yeah, him. He had scars like that all over his legs. He put out cigarettes on himself during a bad acid trip,” Hayner snarled in his little sister’s face. She had no idea what these circus freaks could be like. They were felons, killers, freaks, outcasts, society’s unmentionables. “Those scars look exactly the same as the ones on Hamburger Head!”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” she hissed.

“Doesn’t it?” he sneered. He could see he had broken into her mind, planted the seed of fear and doubt. “Still want to make him your beautiful debut piece?”

“Let me go, Hayner.” Namine stepped away from him.

“I’m going home, now,” he said. “And if you don’t want me to tell mom, you’ll be home in an hour, got it?”

Numbly, she nodded.

“Good.”

Hayner left. He knew if he tried to drag Namine home with him, she would kick and scream and carry on the whole time. Eventually she would get away from him and go back to whatever it was she was doing in abject rebellion to spit in his face. The eccentric artistic women in the Waters’ family were best dealt with if you planted a little seed of an idea and them left them to it with a threat or a deadline. That got results. Nothing else did. So, Hayner left.

…

Namine sat down heavily on the curb again, drew her legs to her chest, and clutched them.

“Hayner always lies,” she whispered. “That’s not true.”

Roxas’s face flashed through her mind’s eye—sweet and damaged, calling out to her, his mangled flesh begging for glowing paint and a soft tender touch—he was so beautiful and so hurt. Like the Venus de Milo statuette with her missing limbs and graceful body and beautiful face. She shivered, shaking herself out of those thoughts. There was no way he had done all that to his own face in a drug induced haze like Hayner’s freakish friend. 

Right…?

Namine shuddered, rubbing her arms. She wished Riku was here or even Sora. She needed someone to talk to, to reassure her. Sora’s easy smile, bright cerulean eyes, his nervousness on her bicycle with her, his rough scarred palms, his ‘rough’ childhood filled her mind. Sora was Roxas’s twin and Sora was the epitome of sweet and kind and gentle. If Roxas had done that to himself, if Roxas was a monster inside, would Sora have stayed with him? There was no way. 

Right…?

“What are you doing here?” A voice rang out.

She leaped to her feet, a cry caught in her throat. 

Roxas stepped from the shadows of a nearby alleyway, his blue eyes red-rimmed and his face white-pale. He looked incredibly troubled and a little bit lost, like a small child. His fingertips were stained with blood. “Well?” he repeated. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, Roxas, you scared me,” she breathed. “I’m looking for you.” Her eyes strayed to his bloodied fingertips. “Where’s Sora?” 

“He left me,” Roxas murmured, a single tear welling in his eye and sliding down his cheek. 

“What?” she whispered.

“He left me for the others,” Roxas whimpered out, “even though we promised each other that we’d always be together… after what happened…”

“What happened?” she whispered.

His eyes met hers. “I can’t tell you. We promised we’d never tell.”

“Roxas, we should meet up with the others.”

“No. Sora left me so now I have to go,” Roxas whimpered. He pressed his hands to his damaged face and then down his chest. Suddenly, he turned to leave and took three steps before Namine’s head lurched into gear with the rest of her body. 

Namine caught him in a tackle, wrapping both arms around his waist and pressing full against him. “Stop!” she shouted. Her hands slid down his chest, feeling bumps and crags akin to those on Sora’s hands. “Roxas,” she whispered.

He shuddered.

“Are these… like on your face…?”

“Yes,” he breathed.

“Burn scars?”

“Yeah…”

“Did you do them to yourself?”

He shuddered.

“Will you tell me?”

“I can’t. Sora and I promised…”

“Let’s find the others, okay?” she whispered, tightening her grip on him.

Roxas didn’t exactly protest, but he didn’t exactly argue either. So, gently, Namine took his cold hand in her own and led him off in the direction Riku had gone when Kairi had been screaming. She shivered again in the chill of the dark night, aware of how small and frail her body was. She couldn’t protect herself or Roxas if the situation turned out to still be dangerous. But, it had been quiet for a long time now. Surely, it was safe now—she hoped.

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	22. The Truth About Carnies

This story is really spiraling out. How am I ever going to get it back under control?

X X X

When Namine and Roxas joined the others in the alleyway, it was swarming with cops and media like buzzards to a fresh kill. The air was sharp and bitter from pepper spray, stinging Namine’s lungs and throat as she breathed. There was a man hunched in the back of a police cruiser, his face smeared with snot and tears having clearly been maced, and he was glaring fiercely out the window at the carnies. His mouth was moving furiously with obscene language, but Namine couldn’t hear him over the noise of media and cops. Sora and Kairi immediately came over to them. The former lead Roxas aside to whisper quietly to him and the latter hugging Namine tightly.

“Are you okay? I was worried when Riku said he left you behind,” Kairi asked. 

“I’m okay,” Namine told the older girl, pulling away. “What happened here?”

“Some crackpot attacked Leon and I,” she explained.

“But you’re okay?” Namine asked, ever so sweet and concerned. Her mother said it was the artist in her—artists cared, end of story.

Kairi nodded and gave Namine’s shoulder a pat. “Leon bought all of us a can of pepper spray when this all started,” she told Namine. “Remember? I just used mine.”

The fairytale blonde nodded and tucked some hair behind her ear. “I’m glad everyone’s alright,” she murmured. “What now?”

“Now, Leon finished talking to the cops and the rest of us head back to the fairgrounds to check on everyone,” Kairi explained patiently. She seemed happy for some semblance of normalcy, like simply talking to a friend. “When we’re not there, the circus is a little weak. We’re the tough ones.”

Axel came up between them and slung his long arms around both girls’ shoulders, giving the each a squeeze. “You girls okay?” he asked.

“They’re fine,” Xion added as she joined the cluster. “Girls are tough.”

He grinned at her, green eyes twinkling. “What about you then?”

She bit off a snippy retort because Riku was eying her closely, warningly. _Don’t start anything in front of the cops,_ those glowing eyes said.

“You’re welcome to join us, Namine,” Riku said with an easy smile. “Axel and I will walk you home once we check on everyone.”

She smiled at the glowing-eyed man. “That would be nice.” 

He beamed, his face transforming. Riku was a little frightening, big and formidable—until he smiled. Then, he looked just like a big teddy bear.

She glanced back over her shoulder at Sora and Roxas, still whispering quietly. “What about them?”

“They’ll follow,” Xion said as she approached the group. “Leon will catch up with us. Let’s get moving.”

“I’ve got to grab my bike,” Namine broke in.

“It’s cool,” Axel said. “I’ll grab it and catch up with you guys.”

Kairi grabbed him. “You’re not going alone,” she ordered.

He sighed, but nodded. “Xion? You with me?”

She sighed, too. “I suppose.”

The pair hustled off together, Riku shaking his head at them and Kairi just grinning.

Namine smiled at the group of carnies, freaks, and outcasts. They really cared for each other and Namine didn’t even think her own family was this close. These people… they were all they had left in this world and they were going to protect it to the death. It brought new meaning to the phrase, ‘You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.’ Whoever this unknown attacker was, suddenly, Namine’s caring artist heart felt bad for him or her. They had no idea what they were getting into by messing with these people.

…

Gathered together, the Strife née Heart twins were whispering brokenly, foreheads nearly touching, standing with the closeness that came from sharing a womb. 

“I’m sorry,” Sora whispered.

Roxas wouldn’t meet his twin’s eyes.

“Roxas, please,” Sora begged.

“We promised, Sora, and you left me.”

“I know, but… these are our friends.” 

“You have a bleeding heart, Sora.” 

“They’re the closest thing to family we’ve ever had.”

“And don’t you think that means something?” Roxas snapped bitterly.

Sora flinched, tears welling in his eyes. “I care about them. I love Kairi.”

“We’re twins, Sora,” Roxas hissed, his fingers digging into the wounds on Sora’s wrist.

“I know.”

“In the old world, twins were killed at birth because they brought calamity and bad luck.”

“I know,” he breathed, tears rolling down his face.

“We were never meant to have family. We are all we have in this life—just us, just each other.”

Sora let out a strangled sound of pain and loss.

Roxas squeezed his hand. “Together, Sora?” he asked softly.

He nodded.

“Don’t leave me again.”

“I won’t.”

“Especially when he’s so close. You feel him, right?”

Sora nodded.

“If we lose each other…” Roxas didn’t finish.

He nodded again, understanding. 

For a moment, the twins stood in relative silence. The night was noisy with police and media, in the distance they could hear the others chattering as they headed back to the fairgrounds, and somewhere there was the cry of a child.

“Roxas?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we go back? Please?”

“Why do you want to go back?”

“Because… I like being with them.”

“What about Kairi?”

“I’ll… I’ll let her go.”

“You promise?”

Sora nodded.

“No bleeding heart?”

He shook his head. 

“What about Namine?”

“You have to let her paint you, Roxas, just once. Please, for me?”

Roxas chewed his lip.

“You promised her.”

“Alright.”

Sora’s smile was faint, but there. “Let’s go home,” he said softly.

“Sora,” Roxas said firmly.

Sora’s smile fell. “Right,” he whispered. “Let’s go, Roxas.”

…

It didn’t take long for Kairi, Riku, Axel, and Xion with Namine in tow to check on the rest of the circus. Everyone was bundled up in their trailers, partnered for safety with the lights burning. No big drooling men with claws had been prowling the grounds, there was no blood fake or otherwise splattered anywhere, there were no straggling cops or news reporters or teenagers looking for a thrill. Everything was quiet and peaceful, sacred almost, with the air of a funeral since Leon had brought back Myrtle Corbin’s ashes earlier in the day.

The twins came back only a few minutes after they finished, much to everyone’s relief. No one wanted to go chasing after them again and they weren’t even sure they would have. If Roxas and Sora wanted to leave, who were they to stop them? But they had come back and that bridge didn’t have to be crossed.

Leon was the last to arrive outside his Airstream where they were gathered to wait for him. With a heaving sigh, he leaned against the trailer.

“Well?” Xion prompted when he didn’t immediately tell them what had happened.

He grinned. “We’re free to leave the city.”

There was a collective whoop of excitement from Xion, Axel, and Kairi. The twins, Namine noticed, only glanced at each other with concern in their bright blue eyes. Riku folded hi arms, not fooled. He could see the frustration and disappointment in Leon’s face. Kairi was the first to speak what they were all apparently thinking.

“What do you mean, Leon? Why are we free to leave the city?” she asked, her voice underlain with urgency.

Leon sighed and pushed his hand through his thick brown hair. “They think the guy who attacked us is the one who killed Myrtle Corbin,” he explained.

“What? You said that couldn’t be true. This guy was too sloppy,” Kairi broke in.

Xion’s blue eyes widened. “The cops don’t care about Myrtle, do they?”

Leon shook his head mournfully. “The guy didn’t even confess, yet they insist he’s the one. So, case closed and we’re free to go.”

Kairi growled deep in her chest. Myrtle Corbin had been a friend of hers, not as close as Xion and Riku and the others, but she cared about the Four-Legged Lady. Knowing that her death would never be brought to justice just ground Kairi’s heart into a pulp. Tears welled in her eyes and a single one rolled down her face.

Shushing her gingerly, Leon pulled her into a hug. “I know, I know.”

“It’s not fair,” Xion snapped. 

“We’re just carnies,” Axel said. “No one cares about us.”

Namine broke in. “I care! What can I do?”

Leon smiled at her and pulled her into his arms as well. “Thank you, sweetheart, but there’s really nothing you can do for us. As carnies, we’re outcasts in this world. Polite society doesn’t care what happens to us and we don’t care what happens to them. It’s a trade off for everyone to leave us alone and just let us be with ourselves.”

“But, what about Myrtle Corbin’s killer? He could follow you and strike again,” she insisted.

Leon guided Kairi into Riku and crouched to be at Namine’s level. (He was a very large man and she was a very small girl.) “Namine, I know you’ve heard things about carnies.”

“I don’t believe them,” she said firmly.

“Well, you should. Most of my carnies are felons. If the murderer comes into our ranks again…” His eyes met hers and conveyed exactly what would happen to anyone foolish enough to step into the nest of vipers that was Leon’s Carnival.

She gasped, her hand going to her mouth. “You would?”

“No one else is going to protect us, Namine, so we have to protect our own,” Axel murmured. 

Leon nodded.

Namine took a step back, her back colliding with Roxas’s chest. She looked up into his face and saw in it an old pain that came from exactly what they were speaking of now. She had no doubts that Roxas had hurt or maybe even killed someone to protect his own—to protect Sora. Her eyes darted to the beautiful twin and Sora’s head dipped in just the smallest nod. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks and she stifled a sob. She understood everything they were telling her, understood that they had no choice since the police didn’t care enough to help them, but still… it was a hard thing to hear.

“Alright, Namine, we’ll walk you home,” Riku said lightly. He gently took her by the arm and grasped the handlebars of her bike with his free hand. 

Silently and without looking back, Namine let the glowing-green-eyed lead her off into the night. In the back of her mind, she heard Xion telling Axel to go with Riku. But her mind was still filled the images of Roxas and Sora’s stricken pale faces, of Leon’s aching heart pulling itself up by its bootstraps, of Kairi’s silent suffering, of Myrtle Corbin’s ashes in a cardboard box in Leon’s Airstream, of a killer still on the loose out there.

X X X

Long chapter!

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	23. Arrangements for the Future

I haven’t updated as regularly. With all these stories, I’m having trouble keeping track of whose turn it is.

X X X

Aerith Waters was waiting up for her daughter. 

Hayner had told his mother all about Namine’s new obsession with the circus freaks and how he thought they might be dangerous. Actually, how he was certain they were dangerous. Aerith hadn’t been as concerned. She herself had had a small fascination with carnivals and carnies as a child. She figured Namine’s interest was only like mother, like daughter. Hayner had wanted to wait up with her, but she had sent him off to bed a while ago, choosing to wait up for Namine alone. Hayner didn’t have the caring artist’s heart like Namine and Aerith did—he didn’t understand.

Aerith took out a canvas and painted the scene of the night outside the sugar-frost-dusted window even though she imagined the frost and the celestial maiden that rode a star-dusted horse across the indigo sky. When her daughter finally arrived home, Namine dragged in, looking exhausted and pale. Aerith saw the two boys that had walked her home leaving from the window without so much as a wave. They looked troubled also. And one of them must have carried a green-tinted flashlight because she watched them leave back down the drive by their glowing green path.

“Namine, you’re very late,” Aerith called, noncommittal, not angry, not happy. 

“I know, Mom. I’m sorry,” Namine murmured. She sank down in the chair beside her mother’s easel set up at the kitchen table. “It’s been a long night.”

“What happened?” she asked as she rinsed out her brush. 

With a heavy sigh, Namine told her mother everything that had happened to her that night since she had roped Roxas and Sora into her kitchen and had them wind up running from her house. She told Aerith about the man who had attacked Leon and Kairi, about Riku, about the rotten police and Myrtle Corbin’s injustice, and everything else that had happened. When she finished, she felt a lot better for it and pushed her fingers through her pale hair.

Aerith squeezed her shoulder. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah, it’s just… I was talking to Axel and Riku while they walked me home and they think Leon is going to move the circus this week.”

Aerith’s eyes sought out Namine’s and held them gently. “What is it?”

“I don’t want them to go. I need to see this through. I need to finish this,” Namine said softly. “I’ve never felt this way about anything in my life, Mom.”

“So, you’re seventeen,” Aerith said with a soft smile. “Join the circus and go with them. You have my blessing.”

Namine’s sky-colored eyes widened, filling with stars. “Really, Mom?”

Aerith smiled and nodded. “You’re an artist. You have to follow your passion in life.”

She threw her arms around her mother and hugged her tightly. “Really? Thank you!”

“But on three conditions,” Aerith said, pressing her finger to the pulse in Namine’s throat. “One, I get you a cell phone and you keep it on you at all times.”

“Done.”

“And you start carrying pepper spray in case something does happen.”

“Leon already has everyone carrying it and he even gave me one.”

“I like him already,” Aerith said with a smile. “Third and final, Hayner goes with you.”

Namine’s heart dropped into her stomach. “What?”

“He’s your big brother and carnies can be dangerous. You’re a beautiful girl and I don’t want you going alone and being so vulnerable. So, Hayner goes with you. He’s eighteen and he’s been taking mixed martial arts for years. He can take care of you.”

“But Mom—”

Aerith fixed Namine with a look. “He goes or you stay,” she said firmly. 

Namine could see she clearly didn’t have a choice anymore. On the few rare occasions that Aerith put her foot down, she really put it down. She could stop Hayner from sneaking out to rock concerts with friends or going out drinking. Once, she had even put her foot down over his vegetables. It wasn’t often that Aerith put her foot down to Namine, but when she did, it was with the same force she used to stop Hayner. So, she hugged her mother again and nodded. Then, she dragged her exhausted body up the stairs, collapsed into her unmade bed, and proceeded to sleep for what felt like a hundred years.

…

Back at Leon’s Carnival, crowded in Leon’s silver Airstream, the carnies were discussing what they were going to do now. 

With the police finally letting them off the hook, everyone was ready to leave this deadly city behind them, but there was the matter of the twins’ promise to let Namine paint them. They couldn’t just run off on her and deprive her of her debut piece, especially after Roxas had finally agreed and Namine had tried so hard to get him to agree. It was only fair.

Kairi passed out small blue, green, and red mugs that were almost like gleaming Christmas lights and then sat down at the small kitchen table with Xion. Leon poured out a steaming cup of green tea for the girls first and moved along the group, pouring tea from the blue Chinese pot decorated with green and red dragons. 

“So, how about we give her two days to paint you two?” Leon asked, pouring tea into Roxas’s red mug. 

“Do you think that will be long enough?” Roxas asked his twin.

“I’m sure,” Sora put in, wrapping his fingers around the warm mug. “She painted my portrait in a few hours.”

“That’s perfect,” Kairi said and took a sip of her tea. 

“We can get on the road quickly,” Riku agreed.

“Yeah, I’m eager to put this city behind us,” Axel added.

“Me too,” Xion put in with a shudder. She was probably remembering the fake blood splattered all over the bathroom. 

“We’ll have to make a detour to the ocean,” Riku reminded the others.

A moment of sad sepulchral silence stretched between them as they each remembered Myrtle Corbin and her sudden violent death at the hands of a killer who would probably never be brought to justice unless he walked into their midst again. Myrtle had been such a sweet young lady with her extra set of legs and her quick easy smile and infectious laugh. If she hadn’t been a freak, she probably would have changed the world, but as it was, she had been a circus freak and now she was dead. No amount of memory or sadness was going to bring Myrtle back.

Leon nodded slowly, his throat tight. “Yeah,” he said to break the silence. “In accordance with her wishes, she wanted her ashes to be scattered in the sea.”

“The Dream Sea isn’t very far from here. We could be there in two days travel,” Riku told them. “I used to live near there.”

“That sounds good,” Axel agreed. 

“We could take a little break and relax,” Xion murmured and wiped a single tear from her blue eye.

“The beach is very good for the soul,” Kairi said lightly, sipping her tea in a state of bliss. “Ah,” she sighed. “It’s healing.”

“Then, it’s settled,” Leon said. “In two days, we’ll head out and put this entire mess behind us.”

Everyone nodded.

They all sat talking and drinking tea in Leon’s Airstream for a while longer and then they walked themselves back to their trailers in a large group and turned in for the night. Tomorrow, they would tell the other carnies the good news so it was going to be a busy day. They needed all the rest they could get.

…

Lying in bed together, Sora kept his back to Roxas. He was looking at the marks on his wrists where his twin’s nails had raked him. Roxas pressed against Sora’s back and Sora could feel the damage of his twin’s chest. For a moment, he didn’t want to even face Roxas, but he finally rolled over. Roxas’s eyes seemed to glow in the dark.

“What?” Sora asked him.

Roxas fingered his injured wrists. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

Sora cradled his wrists to his chest. “I’m alright. Really.”

“Sora… in your nightmares, do you ever think about what I did to save us?”

Sora wrapped his arms around his twin. “No,” he whispered. “Do you?”

“All the time.”

“You shouldn’t. If you hadn’t… we would both be dead now…”

“Do you think… that would be better?”

Sora’s heart thundered with the pulse in his throat. “What?”

“Would it be better if we were dead, Sora?” Roxas asked again in the darkness. “You know he’s the one who stabbed me and killed Myrtle. He’ll kill everyone we love. Just like Mom and Katie…”

Tears burned in Sora’s eyes and throat, but Roxas had long ago lost the ability to cry. “Roxas,” he breathed.

“No,” he broke in suddenly. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” Then, Roxas rolled over in their shared bed, put his back to Sora, and forced himself to sleep.

Sora was awake much longer though, lying there, unable to sleep, with his hands folded on his stomach like a pretty dead corpse in his satin-lined coffin. He imagined the worms creeping in, the water dripping down from above and seeping through the wood, the oppressive scent of grave soil and his own decaying bones, but he couldn’t picture it. Finally, his thoughts turned to Myrtle Corbin’s ashes in Leon’s silver Airstream, waiting for their final resting place among the multi-colored fish in the endless ocean. The ocean was a beautiful place, peaceful and lovely. Maybe when he finally died, he should have his body returned to the ocean as well.

_“Bury her, Sora!”_

The shout went through his heart like a cold knife.

A scream in his throat, Sora woke with a start. 

Sunlight was streaming in through the windows of the trailer and Roxas getting dressed for the day. But, Sora just kept seeing the first shovelful of dirt crashing down over his mother’s beautiful face, her jaw hanging slack and broken, her dead arms around his little sister, Katie’s, small fragile body. Dead… they were both dead. And the air was heavy with the smell of Roxas’s burning body. He put his face in his hands and shuddered.

“Sora?” Roxas asked.

His twin only shook his head—no, I don’t want to tell you or talk about it.

“Good, you’re awake,” Roxas murmured instead. “Leon was just here. Get dressed. We’ve got work to do.” 

Stiff-limbed and trembling, Sora did so, but the image would not leave his mind. 

_“Bury her, Sora!”_

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	24. Namine's Third Arrival

I got Haunting Ground for Christmas and I’m having so much fun playing that I had to pry myself away to write this chapter. Who loves me?

X X X

Leon had slept deeply and soundly for the first time since Myrtle Corbin’s death. The police had finally released them. He could move his carnies to a safer place as soon as Namine painted her debut portrait of the twins. He woke up feeling rested and content despite the fact that he knew Sora and Roxas’s abusive and dangerous father was after the Heart Twins to finished what he had started some years ago. He could move them so he could protect them. 

Honestly, Leon had always run away from everything. Maybe, despite all his reasons, that was why he had become a carnie—so he could run away.

Maybe that’s why everyone and anyone became a carnie… so they could run away from the hate, the pain, the fear, run away from everything. But there always comes a time when you can’t run anymore. Like Kairi couldn’t run and leave Leon to die in the alley that night. Kairi was unable to run anymore.

Carnies ran.

Then, there was a knock on the door of Leon’s Airstream.

…

The morning was bright and sunny, the last vestiges of the looming storm had passed over. It was too bad they had been forced to mark their doorways with blood for the monster not to touch them. It was almost biblical in nature… how Myrtle had to die, how Leon had been attacked, how Kairi had fought back for the freak to be caught. 

Xion pulled open the door of the trailer she shared with Kairi and called back, “I’m going to nip over to Riku’s trailer and see what the boys are up to. Maybe they can lend you a hand.”

“If you wait two seconds, I’ll come with you,” Kairi said, her voice muffled.

Xion sighed. “I’ve heard that a thousand times now.”

“No, no. I’ve almost got it! I’m almost out!” Kairi had folded herself up into another ridiculous yoga position and promptly gotten stuck. She had been trying to untangle her limbs for twenty minutes now and Xion was getting desperate.

“Kairi,” she began.

“No, no. Here just grab my leg and pull,” she interrupted. 

Xion sighed heavily, grabbed her friend’s ankle, and heaved.

With what should have been an audible crack, Kairi’s body became untangled and spilled across the floor like it was ninety percent liquid. Xion pitched backwards and crashed into the wall of their trailer, grumbling and rubbing the back of her head.

“Can you please stop doing that to yourself?” Xion asked.

Kairi only smiled. “Come on, let’s go check on the guys.”

…

In Riku’s trailer, still paired up even though the danger was mostly considered over, Axel was sitting at the table with his forehead pressed into the spiral binding of the notebook he had been tearing pages out of. Just beside his head was a neatly built teepee for starting a fire, but he didn’t have the matches to light it (for which Riku was grateful). Riku, on the other hand, was patiently reading a book and trying to relax before their next move to a new place.

Xion shouted for them outside.

Axel leaped up from the table, less out of excitement to see Xion and more just because he was bored out of his skull. “Hey girls,” the redhead said with a smile. “What’s shaking?”

“We’re going to head over to Leon’s to see where we’re headed next. Want to come?” Kairi asked.

“Sure,” Riku said and snapped his book closed.

Axel sighed in relief. Doing nothing, and especially not lighting things on fire, was extremely difficult for him.

Together, the four carnies made their way up to Leon’s Airstream, passing Leon’s beautiful antique carousel and the haunting twins sitting astride the basswood horses, talking quietly. Xion waved and Kairi called a greeting and Sora waved in return, but neither twin made a move to join the group. Oh, well. The four carried on to Leon’s Airstream.

…

“I think we have to tell them,” Sora whispered to Roxas, rubbing his burned palms together.

Roxas was silent.

“They have a right to know what they’re up against before they decided if they want us to stay with them.”

Silence.

“I think we should tell them together.”

Silence.

“Or… I can do it myself, alone.”

Silence.

Sora sighed heavily.

“You never have to do anything alone, Sora,” Roxas said finally.

Sora caught Roxas’s fingers and squeezed them.

Roxas turned his twin’s hand over and traced the path of the burn scars. “I’ll… I’ll do what you think is best, Sora,” he whispered. 

“Do you want to stay, Roxas?”

The blonde’s head filled with the images of Namine’s beautiful white face the first time he had ever laid eyes on her inside the Freak Tent what felt like eons ago. He still wondered what it would be like to have her care and not see the scars on his face like his beautiful twin. He wanted to know that and she seemed to like him already so he had a chance. He wanted to stay. Slowly, Roxas nodded.

Sora beamed.

…

Even with Hayner Waters dragging his ass and grumbling the whole way, Namine arrived at Leon’s circus the next morning in record time. She knew exactly where she was going and what to do so she didn’t give Hayner a chance to back out before knocking solidly on the shiny door of Leon’s silver Airstream. 

“Namine?” Leon said with a surprised smile. “What can I do for you?”

“Hi Leon,” she said, grinning. “This is my brother, Hayner.”

Leon gave Hayner a little finger wave. “Nice to meet you.”

Hayner was boring his eyes into Leon’s face like a power drill. “What’s with the scar on your face?”

Namine slid him a glare and snapped, “Hayner, shut up!”

He glared at her. 

“I’m sorry, Leon,” Namine said gently.

“It’s nothing,” Leon said with a smile.

“Just because Mom said you could do this and that I had to go with you doesn’t mean I think this is a good idea,” he growled out.

“What’s going on, gang?” Xion called as she approached.

Kairi put her elbow in Xion’s ribs. “Hey Leon, Namine. Who’s this?”

“This is my brother, Hayner,” Namine introduced and glared at her brother.

“Hey,” he snapped at them. “I don’t want to do this,” he growled at Namine.

“What’s going on?” Leon asked. “Maybe we can work this out.”

Namine grinned. “I want to join you.”

Hayner looked as if he had swallowed his tongue and opened his mouth, but Namine elbowed him and continued as if he hadn’t just tried to protest.

“Please?” she asked.

Leon smiled nicely. “Um, Namine, why would you want to become a carnie?”

“This all feels so…” she began. 

“Stupid,” Hayner put in.

She glared at him. “Unfinished,” she continued. “I have to see this through to the end.”

“And joining the circus is the answer?” Leon asked her. “Are you sure?”

She smiled. “Yes, this is something I want.”

Leon gestured at Hayner. “And your brother?”

“I have to come with her,” he snarled.

“So, can I come with you?” Namine asked eagerly.

Leon stared at her pale and beautiful face, framed with thick waves of platinum-colored pale tresses and her big blue eyes full of life and excitement. Beside her, Hayner was the perfect image of an unhappy brooding teenager. The other carnies were standing behind her like a backdrop. It looked like something out of a movie, an unbelievable movie. He had no idea what to say to her. Once again, the carnie in Leon wanted to simply run away.

X X X

So, what do you think? Is Leon going to let her join them or send her home? Will she have to sneak into the circus with them?

Okay, I’m going back to play Haunting Ground now! Yay!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	25. A New Addition to Leon's Carnival

I’m starting to fail at having two stories in progress! I don’t know if I can do it. Something is going to have to go on hiatus until the other is finished… Thankfully, I finished Taking Sora so it’s just this and Broken Hallelujah… but I have a new idea chewing on me. Great… I’m not going to make it! 

Everyone, send me good new-story-resistant thoughts.

X X X

Clearly, Leon had no idea what to do now. He was rarely faced with a decision like this where he had good reason to turn someone away from the circus, but Namine was not a freak or a carnie. She was just a girl, an artist, and she wanted to come along. Kairi, for one, thought it was a good idea. Roxas needed a little female companionship, someone else beside Sora to see something in him besides the scars, and Namine was just the person. 

“Leon, why don’t you let her come with us?” Kairi put in when she saw the desperately lost look on Leon’s face. 

“Yeah, she can bunk with Kairi and me,” Xion added, catching on.

“And Hayner can stay in the trailer with us,” Riku said and clapped Axel on the back. While Axel was coughing, he couldn’t even consider protesting. 

“What?” Hayner growled out, glaring at Namine something fierce. “I will not—”

Before he could finish his protest, Axel clapped Hayner on the back harder than Riku had clapped him, grinning at him even as Namine’s big brother tried to glare a hole through the pyromaniac. While Hayner was busy choking up a lung, Namine smiled sweetly at Leon. 

Smiling at the small circle of his carnies that had formed around them, Leon nodded. “If it’s okay with you girls, it’s okay with me,” he said. 

“Yes!” Namine cheered. She whirled around and embraced Xion and Kairi tightly. “Thank you!”

Kairi patted her back gently. “No problem,” she said.

“Yeah, this’ll be fun,” Xion agreed.

The girls squealed, embracing and smiling. Hayner glared at them, pure hatred burning in his eyes. Roxas and Sora approached behind the group, standing close, but Roxas was nearly healed and ready to start chasing around again. Sora was the one who looked pale and sick now, nervous.

“What’s up?” Roxas asked the group, fingering the scars on the side of his throat. “Leon?”

“Namine?” Sora murmured, his blue eyes gleaming. “What are you doing here?”

Hayner glared at the two twins, folding his arms tightly over his chest. 

Axel elbowed him, dislodging Hayner’s folded arms with a grin.

“I’m joining the circus!” Namine told them gleefully.

“What?” Roxas breathed, his mouth opening.

Abruptly, the pale sickness in Sora’s face was replaced with a warm flush of blood. “What? Really?”

“Isn’t it great?” she asked eagerly.

“It is!” he exclaimed and embraced her.

Kairi smiled.

Hayner glared.

Riku barked a laugh.

Roxas looked a touch uneasy.

Axel tried to snatch his matches from Xion.

Xion, shrieking like a mad cricket, punched him in the arm.

Leon shook his head, smiling delightedly. It was going to be an exciting time with the addition of Namine and Hayner Waters to his carnival, but he was beginning to have a feeling that it would be both stressful, exciting, and also a honking pain in the ass. He smiled at the thought and ducked back into his Airstream. 

…

The rest of the day passed in sort of a blur. 

First, Namine called her mother, Aerith, and told her that Leon agreed to let her and Hayner join them and yes, this was what she desperately truly wanted. Hayner took one final stab at convincing both his mother and sister that this was a bad idea, but no one paid any attention to him. So, it was decided, the Water children were joining the circus.

Then, Xion and Kairi showed Namine to their travel trailer, the one the three of them would be sharing from now on. They showed her where they hid the spare key, duck-taped under the wheel well, but they didn’t often lock the trailer anyway. It was mostly safe in the carnival grounds, save what had been happening lately. 

Later, they showed her to the Strife Twins’ trailer and where Riku’s trailer, still shared with Axel and where her brother Hayner would be staying, was as well. They gave her the grand tour, showing her where everyone lived and explaining that they always tried to set up the same way in a new location. It made the new places feel safer and more like home that way.

After that, Riku took them around the grounds and showed them all the stands. It was decided that Namine would work the High Striker with Sora at the next show. Hayner, growling and snarling all the while, would be stationed in Leon’s place as a guard of the Freak Tent along with Axel. Riku showed Namine where they kept fire extinguishers and hoses in case Axel lit something on fire, as usual. 

Finally, Namine was passed off to Sora who led her around with a smile and happy smiles. He showed her how to operate the High Striker, how to pack it up, and load it onto the towing trailer behind the trailer he shared with Roxas. He brought her through most of the carnival, explaining to her how everything worked, was worked, was packed up, and how it all traveled together. 

When they were content that she knew what she was doing, the day had already ended.

(Hayner, though he hated it, had been given the same treatment. Grudgingly, he admitted it was interesting how these people lived, but insisted this was still a bad idea.)

Darkness was spreading on the horizon, long black fingers reaching across the carnival grounds like the falling cloak of the reaper. It was eerie in a way she hadn’t expected. She always thought of the carnival as being bright and cheerful with candy-colored lights, foods smells, and laughter, but when it was dark and closed down, it was creepy. She shivered even though she wasn’t alone—Sora was still with her. Despite the ethereal nature, Namine found herself wanting to paint it. Her heart raced as she walked beside Sora, her throat was tight and dry, her fingers itched to hold a brush, yet her skin crawled with fear and cold. It was the strangest feeling she had ever had.

“Try to get some sleep,” Sora said lightly as he led her to Kairi and Xion’s trailer. “It’ll be a busy day tomorrow. No one travels faster than carnies.” He grinned. “We don’t want you to get left behind!”

Namine smiled. “Thanks, Sora,” she said.

He turned to leave her, but she grasped his wrist suddenly. “Wait!”

Sora turned suddenly, pulling his wrist from her grip but meeting her eyes. “What is it?”

“What about Roxas?” she asked.

“What about him?”

“When can I paint him?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask him. Maybe tomorrow, while we’re traveling, if you wanted.”

Namine stared at him in silence, her heart racing as she pictured the fan of hideous scars on Roxas’s face. 

“Is there something else, Namine?” Sora asked.

She shook her head. “No…”

“I’m going to head back then,” he said. “Go on inside.”

She nodded, put her hand on the cold knob, and watched him leave without entering. When he was out of sight among the rides, games, stands, and trailers, she turned her face to the darkened bruise-like sky and whispered, “What have I gotten myself into?” But it was far too late to turn back now.

…

Xion was watching from the window while Kairi limbered up in the small living room. 

“Namine’s talking to Sora,” she reported.

“And?” Kairi asked.

“Aren’t you worried?”

“Not at all. Should I be?”

“I’m sure Namine likes Sora.”

“I’m sure she does, Xion,” Kairi said.

Xion let the curtain slide back over the window. “And you don’t care?”

“I know Sora loves me, Xion, and I’m waiting for him to tell me. Namine… I think she’s here for Roxas.”

Xion’s blue eyes widened. “What makes you think that?”

Kairi shrugged. “It’s just a feeling I’ve got.”

Xion sighed and the door to their shared trailer opened and Namine entered. She looked like a pale drowned ghost stepping out of the darkness and into the light. She was like a fairytale princess, so beautiful and fair, and Xion wondered what could possibly possess this artist to enter the world of the circus. 

Namine sat down at the table. “Guys, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Kairi said.

“What do you know about Roxas?” she asked after a moment’s hesitation.

Kairi bit her lip. “Not much.”

“Those scars…”

“I heard Leon talking about them,” Xion put in. “Burn scars, he said. Cigarette burns on top of it.”

“Do you know where they came from?” Namine asked.

Kairi shook her head. “Sora and Roxas showed up here years ago, before any of us, but we don’t know anything about them.”

“So, no one knows,” Namine whispered. Then, she pulled a sketch book from her bag and began to draw. For hours, she sat at the table, unmoving save the motions of her hands as she drew and shaded and erased. When she finished and left for bed without a word, Kairi and Xion crowded around it.

“No way,” Xion breathed.

It was Roxas’s face, bare of scars and hauntingly beautiful. His pale flaxen hair framed his face in waves, windswept into spikes. His eyes, though still in black and white, appeared to look out from the flat sheet of paper, lashes so long that they shadowed his face like fans. His mouth was set grimly and sadly in an unknown expression that made his face seem so real. Like that, it was easy to see Sora in his face. It was easy to see that they were beautiful fraternal twins.

“She’s got talent,” Kairi whispered, awed.

“It’s strange,” Xion muttered.

X X X

Remember, send me good new-story-resistant thoughts!

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	26. No One Moves Faster Than Carnies

I am having way too much fun with Haunting Ground. Someone pry me away from the television!

X X X

The next day, Namine realized that Sora was right. No one moved faster than carnies and it was very, very true. Within two hours, the entire carnival was packed up, loaded up on trucks and trailers, and everyone was ready to go. Then, swiftly, like they were fleeing from something, the carnies tore out of the city and left all the danger and blood behind, bringing with them only Myrtle Corbin’s ashes from the tragedy. Leon was happy to finally put the dark city and hopefully all its dangers behind them.

In the next two days, it was decided they would travel to the Dream Sea to throw Myrtle Corbin’s ashes into the sea as she wished of her remains. Once there, they would rest up and relax with the soothing waves of the ocean and recover from everything that had happened. 

Hopefully, Leon prayed, this would be the end of all the bad things that were happening to his carnies.

But could the life of a carnie ever be that simple? 

…

“Ah wow!” Xion exclaimed and eagerly pulled off her socks and shoes, running through the thick grey-white sand of the Dream Sea’s extensive beach. “This is beautiful! Amazing! Spectacular!” she shouted, her voice echoing over the waves. “I love it!”

“Xion!” Axel shouted, giving a quick chase after her before she could dive into the white surf. “Could you try to remember why we’re here, please?”

She giggled wildly, up to her knees in the water.

Axel grabbed her around the hips, hoisted her over his shoulder, and dragged her back onto the beach. There, he deposited her roughly in front of the others. “Stop shrieking around like a chick with your head cut off,” he snapped at her.

“Xion,” Kairi said sternly. In her arms, she cradled the small cardboard box that held Myrtle Corbin’s ashes. 

At the sight of all the remained of Myrtle, Xion looked wholly chastened and sat silently in the grey-white sands.

Leon had staked out a small location near the boardwalk and remained back there with the rest of the circus, setting up for a few days of relaxation and easy showing in this small coast city. It would be good to escape the dangers, death, and blood of their last location. Everyone was looking forward to it, despite the scattering of Myrtle’s ashes into the briny sea as she desired. It was incredibly sickening to Namine that the Four-Legged Lady’s family didn’t even care, but she supposed that the other carnies were more Myrtle’s family then her own had ever been. Maybe this was the way it was meant to be.

“Well,” Riku murmured. “Let’s do it.”

While traveling, the circus had held a small wake and funeral for her, so this was only the scattering of her earthly remains. Only Riku, Axel, Kairi, Xion, Roxas, Sora, and Namine were present to throw her ashes into the sea. Most carnies, especially freaks, believed that the body was only a vessel and cared nothing for it after death so no one cared to watch her return to the mother sea.

Kairi stepped up to the edge of the Dream Sea, took a deep breath, and laid the small cardboard box reverently into the waters. Usually, the sea washed things back onto the sands, but it was almost as if the sea understood and the soft current pulled the box slowly out into the depths, the darkness of her ashes seeping from the sodden box. Then, out beyond the breaking reef, the box sank deep and was completely gone. Just like that, Myrtle Corbin ceased to exist completely, left alive only in memories and photographs.

“Shouldn’t we… say something?” Namine asked softly. Her voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the sea.

Riku had once been religious and Catholic, but he had given up on all that after his parents had disowned him. Now, though, he lifted his face to the sky and whispered in soft prayer, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Kairi smiled gently at him and nodded.

Suddenly, Roxas spoke. “Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear sister here departed, we therefore commit her body to the world; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; insure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change her vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.”

A moment of silence fell thickly between them, each thinking about the meaning of Roxas’s devout words. 

“Roxas?” Xion murmured. “Do you believe that?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Then why…?” Kairi breathed.

He looked away, Sora lightly touching his trembling back. “I heard it before.”

“When?” Namine asked quietly. She hadn’t noticed the way the others had let the topic drop, curiosity chewed at her relentlessly. She wanted to know about these beautiful twins and she wanted to know everything about them. 

Roxas’s blue eyes met hers coldly, almost like rain, like tears, like pain. “At a funeral,” he said.

Namine breathed out.

Roxas turned away, brushed off Sora’s hand, and began to walk away. As if blown back by the spirit of Myrtle, she barely heard his next words—“At our mother’s funeral.” Then, Roxas’s form vanished up over the grey-white dunes, headed back to the grounds of their new home.

“Your mother?” Namine whispered to Sora.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“W-what happened to her?”

Sora half-turned but didn’t look at Namine. Instead, he met Kairi’s eyes and her heart went out to him. He looked as if he was begging to be saved. Promising herself that she would talk to him later, she slipped between Namine and Sora, grinned, and said, “Who wants to go for a dip in the ocean, then?”

Wisely, this time, Namine let it drop.

Riku put a gentle a hand on her shoulder. “We don’t often talk about our families,” he said to her by way of explanation. “It’s too…”

“Painful,” Xion supplied.

“Yeah,” Axel murmured and pulled the dark-haired fanged freak to her feet. “Go ahead now,” he said. “We’ve done what we came here to do.”

Xion nodded, but she did not return to the sea with the same happy vigor. Instead, slowly, she walked inside her footprints back to the edge of the surf. Axel followed her, Riku guiding Namine along with one hand in the small of her back, and a ways up the beach, Sora and Kairi sat talking quietly.

…

Hayner slouched his way unhappily through the carnival grounds, snarling to himself as it was set up for a few days of showing and merriment. Leon was polishing his antique carousel, something so beautiful even Hayner could appreciate it, and he paused for just a moment to study the romance side of each exquisitely-carved horse. When Leon saw him, smiled, waved, and called out a greeting though, Hayner quickly scrambled away.

What was he thinking? He was supposed to hate this place!

Growling anew, he walked through the rides, watching the carnies put up the spinning teacups and raise the Ferris wheel into the sky like the ruins of an old city. They were all shutting and laughing to each other, the air only lightly touched with melancholy and fear. It was sort of like a faerie world, like something he would only read about in a book, but this was a circus and this was real. A woman walked past him, her spine impossibly twisted into a z-shape, but she smiled as she passed. He couldn’t help but smile in return.

What a strange, strange world this was.

…

“Sora?” Kairi whispered. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” he murmured.

“What about Roxas?”

He wrapped his fingers over the healing bruises in his wrist. “He’s fine.”

“Sora, would you tell me if something was wrong?”

He hesitated.

“Would you?”

“I don’t know, Kairi. I don’t know.”

The redheaded contortionist leaned over and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. “I hope you would, Sora.”

His cheeks glowing pink, he pressed fingers to his face and stared at her.

“I’m here for you,” she said lightly.

“Thanks,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

X X X

Man, this story is getting freakishly deep! I don’t know if it’s ever going to end! If I can even ever get to the point of what I have planned… This is the problem with having ten characters that you really like and don’t want to leave out. Things get away from you and you wind up with another story like “Where Do We Go When We Die?”! Grah!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	27. Half a Portrait of Roxas Strife

This is the start of the second arc of this story. The first was mainly getting Namine to join up with them. Jeez, I think this story is going to be way long unless things start happening way faster than I expected.

X X X

Ansem Heart was stalking his children.

Five years ago, he had slaughtered his wife and nine-year-old daughter and his twin sons were still missing to this day. He should have been sent to death row, into a solid stone prison never to see the light of day again, but instead he cleverly pled insanity and had been gifted with a mental institution instead. It had only taken him five years to divulge a way out and finally put his plan to action.

Now, the cold drizzle kissing his face, he once again roamed the streets like a monster escaped from the realm of nightmares. 

The professor lingered outside the hospital, looking up at the windows. He knew Roxas had been stabbed and put in the hospital, but that had been a while ago and the circus had moved itself from this dangerous town. They were now someplace else, but Ansem would find them. He had no doubt that he would find them and finally finish what he had started five years ago. 

It would have been finished then if only Roxas hadn’t stopped him.

…

Myrtle Corbin’s body had been returned to the sea. The city surrounding them was brand new and safer than Namine’s home town. The two new recruits had joined them, but everything seemed to be alright now. Leon had no doubt that Hayner, though moody and bitter and clearly prejudiced against the carnies and society’s rejects, would come around. 

Namine was incredibly happy to be with the others and had already painted the carousel beautifully with Leon’s shadow crouched among the horses, cleaning it lovingly. She had transformed one of the flying horses into a beautiful centaur with a young woman’s lovely torso, beckoning Leon with her long flower-wrapped arms. In that way, her art was not unlike her mother’s.

But Leon’s attention had been returned to the fleeting nature of human lives as he eyed the empty place on his table where Myrtle Corbin’s ashes had been placed for nearly two weeks. So, with that in mind, he went into town and had a will drawn up in the case of his unlikely demise. He wanted to be certain that in the event of his death, his carnies and his beautiful carousel would be taken care of.

…

Now that they were in a new city, things were going back to normal—well as normal as they could be in a carnival. 

Axel and moved back into his own trailer, Hayner was still staying with Riku, Namine was bunking with Xion and Kairi, and the Strife twins were back in their own trailer. Namine had set up her easel in their trailer, leaving her paints and brushes in a small canvas bag there so she could paint them on a moment’s notice or when she had time since she was completely overwhelmed with the medium that the carnival allowed her. So far, she hadn’t even painted Roxas yet. She had been too busy painting everyone and everything else.

Now, having just gotten off the phone with Aerith and telling her that everything was alright, she was busy sketching the Ferris Wheel before she started painting it and the surrounding booths and stands. She planned to put Kairi’s stage front and center of her next piece. She wanted to paint the contortionist in a beautiful silken costume with her body twisted into a pretzel with Axel working the pyrotechnics in the background. Fire was a fascinating thing to paint.

There was a light touch on her shoulder and she looked up into Roxas’s face. “Hey, what’s up?” she said to him.

He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled up to hide his face in shadows even though it was blissfully warm out with a fresh sea breeze blowing in from the coast. Namine discovered that Roxas was often dressed this way, hiding himself in the shadows.

“I was wondering,” he began, “when you were going to paint me?”

She grinned. “Let me just finish the outline for this sketch and I’d love to do it right now,” she told him.

Roxas shifted nervously from foot to foot. “Where?”

“It doesn’t matter to me. You can pick,” she said, smiling at him. “Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re down at the beach.”

“I wish they would have told me,” Namine pouted. “I would have liked to paint at the beach.”

Roxas chewed his lip. 

“But it doesn’t matter. Just tell me where you want me,” she said, “and I’ll be there in about ten minutes to do your portrait.”

Her smile was infectious and Roxas had to force himself not to return it. “How about in our trailer?”

She smiled wider, showing her perfect white teeth and giggling behind her charcoal-stained hand.

Roxas thought about what he had said a moment, wondering what was so funny about it, realized it, and then sputtered out. “I mean, not our trailer, but our trailer—”

She laughed out loud, her infectious happiness spreading into Roxas’s chest like a warm hand pressing to his scars. 

His ears were burning with embarrassment. “Sora and my trailer,” Roxas said with thick dignity, trying to force the blush out of his cheeks. “Our trailer…”

“Sounds good,” Namine said as her laughter trailed off. “Ten minutes and I’ll meet you there.”

Roxas nodded, turned, and left her to finish her sketch of the Ferris Wheel. 

Namine Waters, the artist… There was such a time in his life when he had wished for a girl like her to come into his life and now, here she was. It was like a dream come true, but now that his dream was a reality… he had no idea what to do with himself. He couldn’t tell Namine how he wanted to feel about her, how he wanted things to be, and how he dreamed she would be like Sora to him. She was such a strange and wonderful person, Roxas thought, like an angel that had fallen from heaven.

Just the other day, Roxas had spied her laughing and talking with Xion about cheesy vampire movies and Xion had done some equally-cheesy vampiric hisses and sneers with her sharp eyeteeth exposed shamelessly. Though most people would have turned away from the sight of Xion’s mouth, Namine just smiled in return. 

Roxas had also seen her doing some yoga with Kairi down by the white sandy beach, though not as severe as the contortionist’s favorite positions. He had also seen Namine helping Kairi untangle herself after she got stuck in said favorite position. 

Afterwards, Namine had hosed Axel when he started a small fire by rubbing two sticks together and confiscated the twigs with such efficiency that it seemed as if she had been with them forever. The pyromaniac had slunk off, wet and unhappy, and hadn’t tried to start any other fires that day… yet.

Then, the lovely artist had gone for a walk on the beach with Riku, talking to him happily about everything and anything. The gay youth was incredibly happy to just have someone to talk to like that, his bright green eyes seemed to glow even brighter than usual.

Finally, he had seen her with Sora, trying to ring the bell on the High Striker with no success, laughing and laughing, but Sora had looked happier than he had in a long while. For that at least, Roxas was grateful for her presence within Leon’s Carnival.

Who knew? 

Maybe having her around would be good for all of them, especially Sora who hadn’t laughed like he meant it in five years. Now, Roxas had recently seen Sora laughing so much it was as if he was making up for lost time—making up the time he had lost in their demolished childhood.

Her brother Hayner on the other hand… Roxas wasn’t took sure about him. Hayner occasionally seemed interested in the goings-on of the carnival, but he didn’t speak to anyone—just slinking around like a shadow between the rides and stands. Sometimes, Roxas thought Hayner’s eyes looked guilty. Other times, Hayner looked as if he hated to be with them. Mostly though, he only looked indifferent. People who looked like that, in Roxas’s experience, were often bad news.

Roxas was still lost in thought when Namine knocked on the door to the trailer he shared with Sora. He jolted, whirling to face the door.

“Roxas?” she called. “I’m ready to paint. Are you in there?”

He pulled open the door, trying to smile at her, but be felt the pull of his scars on his face and flattened the smile.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Namine said as she entered and began squeezing out bright acrylic paint onto her palette. 

“Do what?”

“Stop smiling.”

Roxas stared at her, his blue eyes confused. “What?”

She smiled at him, tucking some pale hair behind her ear. “You have a nice smile, Roxas.”

His mouth opened and closed multiple times, no sound coming out. Then, finally, a little squeak of a question escaped him. “What?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” she asked and filled a cup with water from the tap to rinse her brushes.

Roxas stared at her still. Then, he said coldly, “Yes, it is. I’m a freak.”

Namine approached cautiously and touched his face.

For a moment, Roxas let her. Then, he sharply pulled away from her touch, covering his scarred face with his hand. This only made him think of the scars on Sora’s palms and he shoved his hands into his pockets and turned away so Namine couldn’t see the damaged side of him. 

She touched his shoulder lightly. “Ready?”

“For what?” he muttered.

“To be painted.”

“Sure. Go ahead. Hurry up.”

Namine gestured for him to sit and then perched before her easel and blank canvas. For a moment, she glanced from Roxas’s turned-away face to the canvas and back again. Then, she picked up her palette and tried to select a color, but couldn’t. “Roxas?”

“What?”

“I can’t paint when you’re like this.”

“Like what?”

“Facing away from me and angry.”

He turned to face her, looking like an un-oiled statue, his bones practically grinding with effort. “How’s this?”

Namine angled her head, smiling painfully. “Let’s play a game?” she asked him.

“What?” he snapped. She flinched so he softened his voice. “What did you have in mind?”

She smiled a little. “Twenty questions.”

Roxas snorted. 

“Please?” she asked him.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because… there are things I don’t want anyone to know about me.”

“Oh,” she murmured, looking down at the paint. She mixed together yellow, white, and a touch of red for rich butter-colored blonde and began to paint the windswept curls of Roxas’s hair. When she moved onto the scars on the right side of his face, he spoke.

“I’m sorry, Namine.”

It was the first time he had really spoken her name.

She smiled despite the fact that he had shot her down. “It’s alright,” she murmured. “I understand.”

Strangely, Roxas had a feeling she really did.

X X X

There, a little hint of the Roxas and Namine on the horizon of this mad-crazy story. Wait for it, people! It’s coming! Phew, this came out to be such a long chapter… but I’m not even sure what happened in it. I guess it was a big fluffy filler. Oh well! Every so often, you need a chapter of nothing but fluff and filler. Can’t have action in every chapter. It’d be lame…

Questions, comments, concerns?


	28. Conversations With and About the Twins

I really liked this chapter.

X X X

After the night’s carnival showing, Leon had told everyone to take a break and relax. They would be moving on in two days so enjoy it while they could, so to speak. So, a small gathering of Leon’s carnies was relaxing on the beach, in a circle around a fire. Well, everyone except Axel was relaxing beside the fire—Axel was kneeling inches from the flames, building up the fire and singeing his sleeves. He toyed with the flames almost desperately and everyone realized that it had been a long time since he had gotten to light anything on fire.

The night breeze blowing in off the ocean was chilly and they all huddled close to the fire with each new gust. Finally, one by one, they began to peel off and head back to the small fairgrounds where the carnival was set up. Riku was the first to call it a night, walking back the small collection of girls that had come to the beach with them. Then, Kairi and Sora followed only a few minutes later. Axel caught his hair on fire and Xion dragged him back so he wouldn’t hurt himself. 

Namine and Roxas were the only ones remaining.

…

Before Xion returned to the trailer, Kairi and Sora had to all to themselves. They were sitting together on the couch, knees just barely touching, talking and laughing quietly in perfect camaraderie. Then, Kairi voiced the question that had been chewing on her heart since Roxas and Sora had tried to leave the circus. Since then, Sora had barely touched her and wouldn’t meet her eyes where he used to constantly do both of those things. She wanted to know why.

“Sora?” she whispered.

He dragged his bright blue eyes from her mouth. “Yeah?”

“What’s wrong?”

He looked startled. “What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you look me in the eye anymore?” she asked first.

“Because…” he began, but then sighed heavily. She watched his thin throat working furiously. “I… I don’t know.”

She lowered her eyes. “You don’t hug me anymore either,” she murmured second.

“Kairi, I… I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I promised Roxas… that I wouldn’t.”

She stared at him, her eyes burning with tears. “What?”

Sora took a deep breath. “Roxas believes that… whoever we love will be taken from us.”

“Why?”

Sora shook his head.

Kairi touched his shoulder gently. “Sora, please, tell me.”

“You know… we joined the carnival when we were really young,” he began, whispering as if his words would wake the dead. “Roxas believes that because… our father… he’s taken everything away from us except each other. We’ll always have each other because we’re twins, but he’ll take way whatever we care about.” A distant far-seeing expression took over Sora’s face. He gazed at Kairi’s face without really seeing her. “Like Roxas’s face,” he whimpered and touched his cheek.

“Sora?”

He jolted, his eyes coming back into focus. “To stay here, I promised Roxas that I would let you go. If I don’t love you, if I don’t care, nothing will happen to you.”

“Why would something happen to me?” Kairi asked gently.

“Because I care about you. My father will come to take you away from me if I care.”

Kairi gently put her arms around him. “Oh Sora… what did he do to you?”

Breathlessly, Sora gasped into her skin and then hugged her tightly as if she was about to vanish from his life. “He took everything away from me…” he whispered. “He… he burned Roxas and he made me bury my mother and sister.”

Kairi’s heart leaped up into her throat. “What?”

Sora only sobbed into her. “He told me he’d kill me if I ever told anyone.”

“And… did you ever tell?”

He sat back from her, pulling from her arms, hiding his face with his scarred hands to wipe his eyes. Kairi pressed a tissue into the backs of his hands and he wiped his face, holding the tissue so tightly in his fingers that he shredded it. Then, he took a deep breath, met her eyes, and smiled very thinly. Kairi smiled in return and cupped his face in her hands. Sora laid his palms over hers, her skin so warm and alive that he felt like crying again. 

“Yeah,” he breathed to her. “Right now.”

She leaned towards him and he leaned forwards, their lips centimeters apart.

Then, the door exploded open.

…

Roxas and Namine were alone on the dark beach, the fire popping and crackling before them. Namine stretched out her bare feet out towards the fire, trying to warm them, and Roxas rubbed his hands together. It was cold, but neither one of them was quite ready to leave.

“Roxas,” Namine murmured. “Thanks for letting me paint you. I’m really happy.”

“You’re welcome,” he said and then turned his head to glance at her. “Why did you want to paint this face?”

Namine smiled lightly and then said softly, “My mother has always taught me to see beauty in everything, to judge nothing, and to always look at things from an artist’s perspective. I’ve never been able to stop since she taught me that. I see everything like that.”

“Even me?”

“Even you.”

“But… you don’t know how this happened,” he murmured, fingering his scarred face.

“Does it matter?” she asked him.

For a moment, Roxas just stared at her, his mouth falling open in shock. In this world where everything depended on looks, where Sora was loved and grinned at and Roxas was the carnival’s “Hamburger Head,” to hear those words seemed like a fleeting dream. Did it matter how his face and body had been damaged? Did it?

“I don’t know,” he forced out finally.

Namine wrapped her arms around her bent legs, shivering. The day had been warm enough for short shorts and a tank top and she had grabbed a jacket before coming down to the beach with the others, but now she was freezing. “Roxas, would you ever consider telling anyone how it happened?”

He jolted, his blue eyes glowing in the firelight.

“Like Leon,” she whispered. “If he took you in, he deserve to know what he’s up against, especially if it’s happening again.”

His eyes widened. “What do you know?” he demanded.

She met his gaze, unwavering. “My brother watches the news and he was worried about my obsession with the carnival and he… he Googled you.”

Roxas’s heart throbbed. “Hayner knows something about me and Sora?”

“Just what was in the papers years ago. We know about Ansem Heart, your mother and sister, and that you two are still considered missing.”

“T-that’s too much!” Roxas gasped, leaping to his feet. 

“Don’t worry!” Namine said quickly. “We’re keeping it to ourselves.”

“You swear?” he demanded of her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her roughly.

Namine shoved him back. “Don’t manhandle me, Roxas. I’m not Sora.”

He released her so abruptly that he fell on his ass in the sand. He had hurt Sora a few times when he was upset, but how did Namine know about that? He was retarded. She had probably seen the bruises on his twin or the haunted way Sora watched him sometimes.

“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “I’m not going to tell anyone. You can trust me.”

He pulled his lips back over his teeth like a snarling animal. “I don’t trust anyone except Sora, not anymore!” he shouted at her. Then, he turned on his heel and stalked quickly away into the darkness of the deserted beach.

Namine raked sand over the fire and then headed back to the carnival grounds.

…

The door to Kairi’s trailer banged open. As if shot from a canon, Sora vaulted away from Kairi, his eyes wide with terror. It was as if he thought his father would come to kill him now that he had told Kairi what he had done to Roxas and him as children. But it was only Xion, stumbling in with the fire extinguisher under her arm. 

“Hey guys,” the vampire-girl said cheerfully. “I put Axel in bed. Here’s the extinguisher, Kairi.”

“Hey Xion,” Kairi said with a sigh. 

Of course, Xion had the worst sense of timing—she always had. She had just been so close to finally kissing Sora and he had been confiding to her the things that had happened to him, the things that haunted him in his childhood when she burst in.

“Well, I’d better get going,” Sora said quickly. He made a beeline for the door and was gone into the darkness of the carnival.

“What was that?” Xion asked.

“Nothing,” Kairi sighed.

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?

REVIEW!


	29. Their Trust in Leon

I’m getting a cold…

X X X

When Sora woke up the next morning, Roxas wasn’t lying beside him in their bed. He got dressed and headed outside in search of his twin. He found Leon at the carousel, taking care of it as usual, but Leon hadn’t seen him. He asked Riku and Axel if they had seen Roxas, but they hadn’t either—same for Kairi and Xion. Hayner was skulking around the bumper cars and his fierce glare told Sora that he hadn’t seen the circus’s ‘Hamburger Head’ either. Namine was sitting painting in front of the Ferries Wheel, very much alone. She offered to help Sora search for his twin, but he told her he had everything under control.

And he did… 

Sort of…

Sora trudged up a high white dune, looking out over the Dream Sea and the grey-white strip of beach. The breeze was cool and he shivered, wishing he had spent a few extra moments to search out his jacket. He probably should have grabbed Roxas’s sweatshirt too, now that he was thinking about it. But he hadn’t grabbed either so he trudged down the dune and walked at the edge of the sea where the sand was hard-packed and easier to walk on. The circle of ash where the fire was been the night before was wet and smelled burnt. It reminded him of his childhood, of his father burning Roxas with his cigarettes. 

“Roxas!” he shouted. “Roxas?”

His voice echoed back to him, bouncing off the sounds of the waves. Did he really sound that desperate, that lost? He sounded like a small child again, plagued with the nightmares that lived in his home. He hated hearing that sound in his own voice, but he figured the cry would bring Roxas running from wherever he had hidden himself. He waited a long moment, listening to the steady szash-szash of the wine-dark Dream Sea, but Roxas didn’t appear on the beach nor did he respond to Sora’s desperate childlike pleas.

“Roxas!” Sora shouted again.

He walked the beach, looking for his twin, but didn’t turn up anything even after an hour of searching. Cold and shivering, Sora returned to the carnival and asked around again, but apparently Roxas hadn’t returned while he was gone. He went to the carousel after grabbing his jacket from his trailer and sought out Leon. By now, their fearless leader had finished cleaning the carousel and was doing his rounds attending to the rest of the circus. When he laid eyes on Sora, he immediately stopped what he was doing and Sora wondered if he really looked that distressed.

“Sora? What is it?” Leon asked quickly. “Did you find Roxas?”

“I can’t find him anywhere,” Sora said. “Do you think something could have happened to him?”

Leon gently sat Sora down on a nearby bench. “Take a deep breath.”

Sora hadn’t even realized that he was close to hyperventilating. “I’m okay, but I’m worried about Roxas.”

“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Leon assured Sora. 

“But… what about our—?” Sora cut himself off harshly.

Leon eyed him. “What?”

Sora lowered his eyes.

Leon gripped his shoulders and gently shook him. “Sora, what do you know about what has been happening?”

“I…” Sora whispered. 

“You know who killed Myrtle Corbin, don’t you?”

Slowly, Sora nodded. 

“It was Ansem Heart, wasn’t it?” Leon asked the young man.

Sora nodded again. “Yeah…”

“And what is Ansem’s connection to you and Roxas?” Leon asked. He knew, but he wanted to give Sora a chance to tell him.

Sora shook his head. “I can’t…”

“Sora, you can trust me,” Leon murmured and sat down beside him.

“I know,” Sora whispered, “but… I swore to Roxas that I would never tell anyone what happened.” Then, his face went pale—he had almost told Kairi everything just the night before.

“It’s okay,” Leon told him. “You can tell me.”

Sora hesitated, his throat working furiously. “He’s… he’s our… our father…”

Leon gently embraced Sora from the side. He had never realized just how thin and frail the youth’s body was, trembling like a bird with a broken wing, and Sora was also incredibly warm that he almost checked for a fever. Instead, Leon just hugged him gently for a long moment until Sora stopped trembling. Then, he produced a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and handed it to Sora, but the boy’s cerulean blue eyes were dry and bright. 

“I have to find Roxas,” Sora said.

Leon ruffled his hair. “I will help you look.”

“Thanks,” Sora murmured and smoothed his chestnut hair. 

Leon smiled at him.

…

Together, Sora and Leon went out in search of Roxas. Once Sora took a few deep breaths and considered where Roxas would go at Leon’s urging, he was able to figure out where his twin was. They found Roxas hunkered underneath the Ferris Wheel, hiding in plain sight. By now, Namine had moved on to drawing something else and the Ferris Wheel was deserted. Sora wedged himself into the small space beneath it and encouraged Roxas to come out. Then, the three of them stood together in front of the Ferris Wheel.

“Hey Roxas,” Leon began softly. “We need to talk about a few things.”

“Like what?” Roxas asked, staring at Sora’s scarred hands.

Sora stuffed them into the pockets of his jacket.

“Well, Ansem Heart, for one,” Leon told the older twin.

Roxas’s head snapped up, his eyes wide and his face chalk-pale.

“It’s alright,” Leon said quickly. “I’m not going to send you away just because I know.”

“What do you know?” Roxas asked. “And how much do you know?”

Sora took a step back.

Roxas immediately glared at him. “You swore to me, Sora!” he shouted.

Leon stepped between the twins. “Stop, right now,” he said firmly. That voice had stopped many a tantrum over the years and was still in perfect working condition now—both boys stopped in their tracks, wide blue eyes staring at him helplessly. “Now, are you ready to listen to what I have to say?”

Roxas nodded slowly, his thin shoulders tensing nervously.

Sora stepped back towards his twin and gently touched Roxas’s arm. An apologetic expression flit through his darkened storm-blue eyes.

Roxas pulled away from Sora, crossing his arms over his narrow chest.

“Now,” Leon continued. “I want you both to stay here with us. No more trying to run away or hiding.” He looked sternly at them both. “If I can’t find you, I’m going to assume something bad has happened and call the police. They might not care about carnies, but they will care about capturing Ansem Heart. Understand?”

They both nodded.

“And you don’t have to tell me what he did to you when you were children until you’re ready,” Leon continued gently. “But if I ask you something about what happened in the past because I need to know in order to protect you and the others, I expect you to tell me. Does that sound fair?”

Again, the Strife née Heart twins nodded.

Leon patted the both on the shoulder. “Alright, now, we’ve got a nice relaxing day ahead of us, but we are leaving for the city in another day or so. I want you both to enjoy the beach and try to live a little, okay?” he asked, smiling.

A third and final time, they nodded.

“Good,” Leon said and left the twins alone to talk.

“I’m sorry,” Sora said immediately to Roxas. 

But his brother pulled him into a strong hug, crushing him close with a strength Sora didn’t know he could possibly possess. Roxas was so thin and frail, but then again so was Sora and he worked the strongman game. For a long moment, Roxas just held his twin, clutching him desperately close, until Sora returned the embrace. Then, he released him and stared into Sora’s bright blue eyes. 

“It’s alright,” Roxas whispered. “I think… that it was time we told Leon what he’s up against.”

“I agree,” Sora murmured.

“Tomorrow, we’ll tell him everything.”

Then, the twins headed back to their shared trailer so that Roxas could grab his jacket and then they would meet up with the others and start doing rounds on the carnival. It was early, but it was too cold to be at the beach and there didn’t seem to be much to do except set up for the night’s showing. By the time they finished, the sky was gun-metal grey and threatening rain and a cold breeze was blowing in off the ocean. Despite the weather, the show must go on.

X X X

I have a bad feeling about the future…

Questions, comments, concerns?


	30. The Sound of a Bell: Leon's Life

I snipped off the tip of my finger with scissors and it really really hurts to type!

X X X

Leon was lying in his bed, on the border between sleep and awake when the little bell on his trailer door dinged softly. Then, he heard it fall quietly on the rug and roll across the floor, jingling softly. The string had broken, he figured and rolled over in his warm comfortable bed. The trailer was silent and peaceful. Outside, it was raining lightly and a cool ocean breeze whispered through the nearby trees. It was the perfect night for sleeping in the arms of someone you love, but Leon slept alone. Even so, he was happy. The twins had told him a little bit about themselves and he would be able to protect his carnies. He smiled faintly in his sleep. Softly, the bell chimed as it rolled under his bed.

…

Roxas woke in the middle of the night, his heart pounding, and he didn’t know why. He sat up in bed, shirtless, his scars catching the faint moonlight in such a way that he wanted to burrow back under the blankets. Beside him, Sora was sleeping soundly and snoring faintly, but it wasn’t his twin’s soft snores that had woken him. 

Something was wrong!

Roxas got out of the bed, shrugged into his bathrobe, belted it securely, and went to the window. Outside the glass, the night was still and fair, peaceful. The carnival rides were painted silver with moonlight, dark shadows stretched out lazily across the ground. All the trailers were dark and sleepy. Everything looked alright, but Roxas had only survived this long because of his sixth sense. He returned to the bed and shook Sora awake.

“What?” Sora groaned, rolling over. His bare chest and pale sky-blue eyes gleamed in the darkness, dappled with moonlight and faint freckles. “Roxas?” Something must have shown in Roxas’s face because Sora immediately sat up, grasped Roxas shoulders, and asked, “What’s wrong? What is it?”

“I don’t know. I have a bad feeling,” he murmured.

Sora’s eyes widened. “A feeling?”

Roxas nodded slowly.

“What should we do?” Sora asked.

“I don’t know. I was looking out the window and everything looks alright, but…”

“You’ve never been wrong before,” Sora said softly.

“There’s a first time for everything, right?”

Sora eyed him closely. “Do you think you’re wrong?”

Roxas bit his lip. “I don’t know…”

“Maybe we should go tell Leon,” he suggested.

“But if it’s nothing, Leon won’t believe us when something does happen.”

“But what if it is something?” Sora asked. “What if someone dies?”

Roxas’s heart throbbed, his first was thought immediately of Namine. She was so beautiful and frail in her white clothing speckled with multi-colored paint and her stunning sea-blue eyes and long pale platinum hair in rivulets across her thin shoulders. He didn’t want anything to happen to her—not when she was starting to… He couldn’t even finish that thought. He had no idea what he was to Namine or even she exactly she was to him. All he knew was that he didn’t want to see anything bad happen to her. 

He wanted to protect her…

Just like he protected Sora in their childhood hell…

“Roxas?” Sora murmured. He brushed Roxas’s pale hair back from his forehead, his fingers tracing the scars of cigarette burns on his twin’s forehead. He sat down beside him on the bed and waited for Roxas to answer him. Everything they did, they did together, each with the support of the other save when Sora occasionally put his foot down. “Roxas?”

“Let’s go,” Roxas said finally. 

Sora nodded. He took Roxas’s hand, pulled him to his feet, and together the two brothers stepped outside into the night. Shirtless and pale, Sora looked like a lovely ghost who had died in his sleep. Roxas’s face was plastered with hideous burns, a man who had burned to death. Was it a sign of things to come? That the twins looked as if they were already dead?

…

Xion wasn’t always the best of roommates. For one, she was messy. Second, she didn’t snore in her sleep, but she did mumble. It was her mumbling that woke Kairi from a dead sleep. Grumbling, Kairi rolled over, fisting her hand in her pillow and preparing to throw it at her bunkmate, but something stopped her. 

Outside the window, she spotted Roxas and Sora walking through the night.

She wasn’t exactly sure why the sight shocked her so. They weren’t carrying suitcases or backpacks. It was clear they weren’t running away because Sora was shirtless and barefoot, Roxas was wearing his pale blue robe, and they weren’t pressed together in that desperate way they had been when they had been attempting to run away. 

But it wasn’t likely that they were just out for a midnight stroll.

Kairi rolled out of bed, went to the window, and brushed aside the curtains. She stared out at them, watching as they passed her trailer. It looked like they were headed for Leon’s trailer, but why? Kairi’s heart began to pound suddenly. What if something was wrong? 

Quickly, Kairi crossed the trailer, grabbed Xion’s sleeping mumbling figure, and shook her violently awake.

“Whazzat?” Xion mumbled out and blearily looked at Kairi.

“Get up,” Kairi said.

“Why?” she grumbled, trying to roll over and go back to sleep.

The redheaded contortionist yanked the covers off the bed and Xion was so tangled up in them that she followed, crashing to the floor. Immediately, she was awake and dragged herself to her feet, snarling at Kairi fiercely. 

“What?” Xion snapped.

“I just saw the twins. I think something might be wrong.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.”

Xion sighed heavily. “So what?”

“So I want you to come with me to go check on them,” Kairi told her shortly.

Xion groaned pathetically, stuffed herself into a jacket over her short shorts and cotton tank top, and slouched her way to the door of their shared trailer. Kairi put on her shoes and the two of them tramped outside in the darkness after the two boys. Their shadows danced across the sandy ground, the cool moonlight pressing down on them.

…

Ten minutes before Roxas had woken from a dead sleep sensing that something was wrong and only eight since Kairi had woken Xion and gone after the twins, the little bell on Leon’s door had fallen. Jingling softly, the bell rolled across the floor and under the bed.

Squall Leonhart was certain that all was right with the world and did not rouse. He rolled over, sleeping soundly, even smiling faintly.

Soft footsteps padded across the thick cream-colored carpet, found the bell in the darkness once again, kicked it lightly, and listened to it jingling softly across the floor with a faint muffled curse. It had been a long time for the man stalking in the darkness and he was feeling rusty. Even so, it was time he took everything away from his sons again, just like he had when they were his young children and had escaped from his captivity. 

Silently, the knife flashed like a sliver of broken moonlight as it hovered over the man’s sleeping form.

When the cold tip of the blade went into Leon’s back, he woke with a start, but it was too late to fight off his assailant. He rolled over, the knife retracting from his body painfully, and he shoved the man leaning over him in the dark. The man crashed backwards into the wall of Leon’s Airstream with a clatter. Leon leaped from the bed, staggering as the pain lanced through his back. 

“I’ll give you a choice, ringmaster.”

“W-what?” Leon forced out. God, he hadn’t felt pain like this before in his life. How had Roxas survived so many cigarette burns?

“Call those twins here or die.”

Leon’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re after Sora and Roxas.”

“I’ll kill them both for what they did,” the man hissed in the darkness. That voice did not belong to a human being—it belonged to a monster!

“Why? What did they do to you? They’re just children!”

“They’re monsters!” he shouted. “Bring them here to die! Like lambs to a slaughter! Or I will kill you.”

Leon gauged his options and then slowly shook his head. “No,” he said firmly.

The man leaped on him again and this time, there wasn’t a chance for Leon to defend himself. The wound in his back had gone into his spine and his body just wouldn’t work right. The knife went into Leon’s throat like it was going into softened butter. Hot blood bubbled from the wound and Leon desperately pressed his hands to the jagged lesion in his throat. The knife was torn out along with a hot jet of lifeblood, slitting his throat cleanly from ear to ear, and everything was over for Leon. There was no chance he could save himself now.

“Why are you doing this?” he choked out with his dying breath.

“Those demons…” the murderer whispered.

The man stepped backwards into a shard of pale moonlight. Ansem Heart’s face was as recognizable as the painting of the Mona Lisa, even in the darkness and splattered with Leon’s blood. He grinned with so much evil that Leon suddenly felt that his sweet carnies didn’t have a chance, with or without him. He wanted to speak, but only a dying gurgle of blood escaped his mouth. Then, Leon no longer was able to pull himself up by his bootstraps. He passed silently into the next life.

Then, Ansem slipped from the trailer and there were ten minutes before the young carnies would even reach Leon’s trailer and find the ringmaster’s body.

…

Sora knocked on the door of Leon’s Airstream, but there was no answer. He was about to knock again when Kairi and Xion joined them. Xion looked like she wanted to go back to bed, pouting, arms crossed meanly over her thin chest. But Kairi’s face was pale and alert, her blue eyes shining in the darkness with concern. Roxas stared at them for a moment, his heart pounding. Could they sense it too? That lingering feeling that something was out of place? 

“What’s wrong?” Sora asked the girls. He reached out for Kairi, thought better of it, and withdrew his hand.

She looked as if her heart was broken, but shook her head. “I saw you guys. I wanted to check on you. Is everything alright?”

“Roxas had a feeling,” Sora said.

“A feeling?” Xion groaned. “We’re all up at three in the morning over a feeling?”

“Roxas’s feeling has saved us before—” Sora cut himself off, his eyes darting like a trapped animal. 

Roxas put his hand on his twin’s shoulder. “I just want to make sure everything’s alright,” he told the girls. “You can go back to bed.”

“Finally!” Xion groaned and turned to leave.

Kairi caught her by the hood of her jacket and pulled her back. “Let’s wait a moment, Xion.”

Roxas knocked, but there was still not answer. It wasn’t like Leon not to answer his door if there was a knock this late at night and Leon was a light sleeper. Maybe he wasn’t in his Airstream… Hands shaking and heart pounding even as he tried to tell himself it was nothing, Roxas opened the door. 

The little bell that had been on Leon’s door since Myrtle Corbin’s death did not jingle in the darkness. The interior of the Airstream was deathly silent and still. Roxas’s heart raced, jumping up into his throat to choke him. He felt all the little hairs on his arms and neck rise with sudden chills.

Something was… very wrong!

“Leon?” Roxas whispered.

With Sora at his back, he stepped into the Airstream’s dark interior. It was silent, far too silent. All contemplations of the meaning of the phrase ‘silent as the grave’ assaulted him. He swallowed the stone in his throat. Sora’s hand fisted in his robe and he heard his twin inhale sharply. 

Sora sniffed the air, his grip on Roxas tightening. At times like this, the bond between twins was both wonderful and horrible. Roxas sensed Sora’s fear and horror, sensed how Sora smelled blood in the air, and knew immediately that Leon was already dead. Their fear fed on them until there was nothing left.

Broken, the two boys stood in the middle of the darkened interior of their closest friend’s home and grave. Leon had taken them in when they had nowhere to go, Leon had accepted their personal demons, Leon was a father in every way to them where their own father had only been their tormentor. They sensed the loss of Leon as if a hole had been punched through them, gaping and black and sucking in everything to fill the void.

Kairi’s voice echoed through the darkness, but they couldn’t make out what she was saying. Her voice was garbled.

Then, Xion flicked one of Axel’s stolen lighters. In the small spark of hot light, Kairi found the light switch. 

Bright warm amber light flooded the Airstream. It looked like home, like nothing bad had happened.

Then, the light reached the far corners of the room and flashed on the dark pool of blood.

For a moment, no one dared to breathe. It was as if no one even could.

Then, Xion screamed and Kairi leaped to Leon’s side.

But it was evident already, hopeless.

They were too late…

Squall Leonhart was already dead.

X X X

Everyone applaud me for typing with my buggered finger. It hurts!

Questions, comments, concerns? Tears?

Who misses Leon already? I do!

Review!


	31. A Funeral: He Loved the Broken Ones

I do not own Dia Frampton’s song, “Broken Ones.” Ever since I heard the song, it’s been inspiring Leon’s character to grow and change and eventually die for what he believed in. It’s a fantastic song! I’d love for everyone to check it out.

This became such an epically long chapter!

X X X

Before the funeral began, Sora found Kairi crying alone in her trailer, half-dressed. Her skin looked as thin and fragile as wet paper, her body shaking with sobs and pain. He didn’t say anything when he came to sit beside her. In that way only Sora could possibly be, he silently wrapped his arms around her and just held her tightly until her tears began to dry. Then, she clung to him like he was the only piece of driftwood in this sea of tears until she could bear to look at him.

“Why did this happen?” she whispered.

“Roxas and I… we’re going to tell you. We’re going to tell all of you.”

“Sora,” she breathed.

Then, he gently threaded his finger through her ruby-red hair, the color of blood that had been haunting her since she had seen Leon’s corpse, and kissed her tenderly. He could taste the salt on her lips from her tears and he could feel the desperate fear and sorrow in his touch. And also… guilt. But how could this have had anything to do with him? Sora was such a good person, so sweet and honest, but so was Leon… And now Leon was dead.

Kairi clung to him again, sobbing when she should have been happy that Sora had finally kissed her.

_I know they’ve hurt you bad.  
Why hide the scars you have?  
Baby, let me straighten out your broken bones,  
All your faults to me make you more beautiful…_

No one had ever met Leon’s family and he hadn’t really ever spoken about them save his father who had guided him to start the traveling circus and had carved the hippocampus of the beautiful antique carousel. Leon had never mentioned his sister which might have made one believe that she hadn’t supported or cared about him, but when she flew in from Africa just for her big brother’s funeral, a very different person was revealed.

Rinoa Leonhart was a beautiful young woman with a deep rich tan and long dark hair that had been bleached in places by the hot sun. She looked a little out of place in her pale blue dress, embroidered with white angel wings across her back and her high heels, especially with her brother’s ashes in a small crystal urn wrapped securely in her arms. At her side, a dog waited patiently, her rich caramel eyes soft and almost eerily humanlike. Angelo, Rinoa had called her—sometimes just Angel. 

Most of the carnies didn’t have suits or good dresses to wear for the funeral of their ringmaster, fearless leader, and above all their best friend, but each and every one of them owned something in black. So, even though funerals were supposed to be a celebration of the life of the deceased rather than the grief and blackness of death, everyone was wearing black. 

It was Leon’s funeral and in testimony, the sky was dark with clouds and the ocean was washed-out grey. The backdrop of flowers and carnival rides was both haunting and beautiful, bright and dark all at once. From the speakers, a soft song drifted through the mournful quiet air.

_I can’t help it, I love the broken ones.  
The ones who need the most patching up.  
The ones who…  
Never been loved,  
Never been loved,  
Never been loved enough._

Even Namine who had never worn such a dark hideous color in her life, though she had had to borrow a black dress from Kairi. She hadn’t known Leon very long, but the pain in her heart was almost like a physical wound. She could even begin to imagine how the others were feeling in this horrible point in time. She ducked into the shade of the Bumper Cars and called her mother.

“Sweetheart,” Aerith said breathlessly. “I just saw on the news. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Namine whispered, fighting back her tears.

“Baby,” Aerith murmured and that was all she said.

Namine’s grief and pain poured out of her like water. She told her mother about Leon’s death, about how the funeral was the worst thing she had ever seen, and she couldn’t even bear to paint it or try to look at it in a different way. It was the first time someone Namine knew had died.

“Mom,” she sobbed. “Does the empty space where they used to be ever close?”

“No, baby, it doesn’t,” Aerith told her daughter gently.

Namine cried for a while, clutching the phone as if it was her mother and it offered her some hard plastic comfort. 

“I want you to come home, Namine,” Aerith said suddenly.

“Mom?”

“It’s dangerous. I don’t want to lose you.”

“But, they need me.”

“They have each other, but I have no one but you and Hayner. If anything happens to you, I’ll be completely alone, Namine. I need you to come home to me, alright?” Aerith said gently. 

Namine sniffled and nodded. “Can I just… have a few more days?”

Aerith hesitated. If she could have, she would have been there to get her daughter that very hour, but she couldn’t. Instead, she took a deep breath and said softly, “Today is Monday. I will be there to pick you up on Friday. I have to do one gala and then drive to the Dream Sea. Once I get there, you have to come home, understand?”

Namine felt like sliding to her knees. “Yes Mom,” she whispered.

“Where’s Hayner?”

“Talking to the others,” Namine told her. 

Aerith was happy he had come around to like the carnies, even to a degree, but the happiness felt out of place right then. “Will you tell your brother?” she asked finally.

Namine nodded, her eyes burning with unshed tears.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

Then, Namine hung up and stood in the shadows of the Bumper Cars. Leon’s sister in her pale blue dress, clutching the crystal urn that was all that remained of her brother’s wonderful life, with the sweet dog at her side as a trusting loving companion, looked all too real. The sight was beautiful, of that Namine had no doubt, but she couldn’t even bear to engrave it in her memory. Leon’s death was a horrible thing.

_Maybe I see a part of me in them.  
The missing piece, always trying to fit in.  
The shattered heart, hungry for a home,  
No, you’re not alone.  
I love the broken ones!_

By this time, Kairi was wearing her favorite black silk dress with black leggings. It was one of her favorite showing outfits for her contortionism, the hem slightly singed from one of Axel’s pyrotechnics going awry, but she didn’t think she would ever be able to wear it again without thinking of this moment—without remembering Leon’s bloody slashed throat and staring eyes in the darkness or the strange faint smile on his face even in death. 

Had he been happy to go? 

Had he wanted to leave them all alone?

Why had this happened to them? To him?

What had they done to deserve this? 

Or was it just because they were carnies, outcasts, freaks?

She pressed her face into her hands, sobbing openly. Everyone was in pain here, Leon had been a dear friend, loved and trusted. And the raw ache left by Myrtle Corbin’s death was ripped open anew, throbbing and bleeding freshly. She hugged her arms around her torso as if to hold herself together. 

Behind her, a strong warm chest pressed against her back and arms wrapped tightly around her. She had hoped it would have been Sora since he had come to her earlier, but she looked up into Riku’s glowing green eyes and felt like crying for a completely different reason. Tears ran down her cheeks and soaked into her dress, dripping on Riku’s arms and hands. He held her close, his cheek resting on the top of her head and she felt wetness there, too. Desperately, she clung to him and he let her.

_You don’t have to drive with your headlights off.  
It’s a pocketknife, not a gift from God.  
Don’t you learn of love from the love they kept?  
I will be your anchor, slowly,  
Step by step…_

Xion could only feel numb. Once again, for the second time in her life, she was losing everything that was important to her. After her folks had tossed her out, Leon and this circus had been the only home she had left and now… Leon was dead. 

It was just too much!

Silently, without crying, she sat on the beach in her black jeans and black t-shirt, shivering, but she didn’t get up. So long as she felt cold, she wouldn’t have to feel anything else. The icy waves lapped at her sneakers, chilling her to the bone.

That was okay…

She liked it that way.

Anything was better than the crushing empty pain of Leon’s death.

“Xion.” 

Axel’s voice rang softly over the ocean, mingling with the sweet voice singing over the speakers back at the carnival. Usually, the carousel played calliope music, but not today. Today, it played the song for Leon’s funeral, over and over and over. Xion wondered if anyone was really listening to it. Probably not…

“Xion.”

Axel sat down beside her in the cold white sand and she felt the heat rolling off his body in waves. That wouldn’t do. She didn’t want to be warm. She wanted to be cold so she wouldn’t have to feel anything else. She just wanted to be like Leon, cold and dead with no more pain in her life.

“Xion,” Axel said again.

“Go away,” she snapped.

Gingerly, he put his arm around her shoulders.

She shoved him off. “Go away, Axel.”

He sighed. “I miss Leon too.”

Xion didn’t want to talk about Leon, not now, not yet, not when the loss of him was still so fresh. She stared out at the sea, but could only think that Myrtle Corbin’s ashes were out there among the waves now and that the Four-Legged Lady would soon be joined by Leon’s earthly remains. She didn’t want to talk about Leon and she didn’t want to think about Myrtle either.

“Shut up.”

“Xion,” Axel said gently. “It’s okay.”

“How is it okay?” she snapped at him, digging her fingers into her goose-bumped arms. It hurt, but that was okay. Pain was good. If she felt pain, if she was cold, then she wouldn’t miss Leon and she wouldn’t think about Myrtle.

“I miss him too.”

“Just shut up, Axel.”

He sighed and hugged her to his side again. This time, she didn’t push him away. She let him gently hold her until her body was warm again and she couldn’t help but think about Leon. It wasn’t long before the tears came, as if she had taken too much of the ocean into herself. Once she started crying, she just couldn’t stop.

_I can’t help it, I love the broken ones.  
The ones who need the most patching up.  
The ones who…  
Never been loved,  
Never been loved,  
Never been loved enough._

In the dark silence of their trailer, it would have seemed like they were waiting for death together, but they weren’t. They had touched death too many times to be afraid for themselves anymore. Now, it was all about the people they loved and cherished and how their father would stop at nothing to take them all away until the twins were alone again. 

But now, with Leon’s death…

“It happened again,” Sora whispered to Roxas in the dark. There was something in his voice—like a dog who had been kicked for too long baring its fangs at its abusive master.

“I know.”

Sora’s eyes gleamed, blue like the hottest part of a fire. “I want it to stop, Roxas.”

“I know.”

Sora clenched his small hands into fists. “Leon didn’t deserve to die. I didn’t want him to die.”

“I know,” Roxas whispered. 

Deep in his chest, a hot hateful rage was beginning to burn into his bones. It was the same feeling that had taken him when they were eleven and he had done what he did to get them from their father’s grasp. His blood boiled and burned, the scars on his face felt fresh and bloody again, the ones of his chest felt like they were once again being burned purposefully into him, and all over he felt white-hot. 

He saw Sora set his jaw and finger the knuckle that he had once broken. 

“Roxas,” Sora whispered.

“Sora,” Roxas whispered.

Then, as they had only once before in their young lives, they prepared to take action against their father. Before, it had been the death of their mother and little sister that had made them this way. Now, it was Leon’s death. Either way, this time, either they would die or their father would die.

But it would never be that simple…

Not for them.

Not for the Strife née Heart Twins.

They were not the beloved children of the Gods—they were more like cursed twins of calamity. But they had each other, at least they had each other, forever and for always, until they day their earthly bodies were returned to the sea like Myrtle Corbin and Leon before them.

_Maybe I see a part of me in them.  
The missing piece, always trying to fit in.  
The shattered heart, hungry for a home,  
No, you’re not alone.  
I love the broken ones!_

Hayner hated to admit that he had come to like these people. He wasn’t quite ready to cry over the loss of their ringmaster, but he felt their sadness like a heavy stone in his throat. Forcing himself to be strong, he swallowed it and leaned coolly against the Airstream, just watching the carnies as they pressed close together.

His sister was tucked in the shadow of the Bumper Cars, crying and talking to their mother.

The redheaded contortionist and the glowing-eyed man were hugging tightly.

Xion and the pyro had gone to the Dream Sea, though separately.

He had seen the twins duck into their trailer together.

Leon’s sister and her dog were just… there.

Suddenly, Rinoa approached him, the crystal urn gathered against her chest. Hayner might not have liked carnies, but he did like dogs and stretched out a hand to pet the sweet pooch. The sight of the dog’s eyes gave him a short pause, but Rinoa said that it was alright. Whether she was talking to him or the dog, he didn’t know.

“Did you know my brother?” she began softly.

“Not for very long.”

“Me neither,” she confessed.

"Because he was a freak?” Hayner asked without thinking.

Rinoa glanced at him. “No,” she murmured. “We just… never had a chance to be together.”

“Why not?” he asked and gently stroked the dog’s soft head. 

“We were always at different places. He started this circus because that’s what he was and I went to Africa with the missionaries because that’s who I am.” She sighed, hugging the urn. “But I loved him. Make no mistake that I loved him and I will miss him forever.”

Hayner stared at the carnies and then whispered, “Without him around, what’s going to happen now?”

Rinoa smiled softly. “I read his will, already, before I came here. He wants the circus to stay in business. He’s giving it first to me so I can take care of our father’s carousel, but mainly to these children,” she said and tipped her chin at the carnies. “Everything will remain. This will still be a haven for them.”

Hayner didn’t know why he felt so relieved. He told himself it was because he didn’t want these freaks in society, but the dog looked at him with her humanlike eyes and he looked quickly away. “Leon was a good man,” he said softly to Rinoa.

“He was.”

Then, the woman in blue smiled at him and he saw the flash of her angel wings on her back as she walked away. Was she a real angel? An angel for understanding and trust and the truth in life? The dog glanced back at him, her human eyes going straight into his soul and Hayner looked away again.

_Maybe we can rip off the bandage.  
Maybe you will see it for what it is.  
Maybe we can burn this building,  
Holding you in…_

As dusk was falling, the carnies all gathered on the edge of the Dream Sea. Though faces had been starting to dry, the sight of the sea and the crystal urn with Leon’s ashes brought tears on in a new wash. 

Rinoa and her sweet dog waded into the surf to their knees. Rinoa removed the lid of the urn, handed it to her dog who took it gingerly in her mouth, and then the woman in blue dipped the urn into the water. A few passes of the waves later and Leon’s body was gone as if it had never existed.

"Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the world; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; insure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change his vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself,” Roxas said again as he had for Myrtle Corbin. He felt like crying, but Sora squeezed his hand and comforted him until he feeling passed and he could finish speaking.

Rinoa rejoined the others on the sand and they all stood together, a sea of black led by one speck of blue light in the encroaching darkness. Then, Rinoa dipped her head back, turning her face to the sky, and she began to sing in the sweetest voice. She sang the entire song as a tribute to her brother’s short life of pain, struggle, pulling himself up by his bootstraps, but he had died smiling. 

Whatever had happened in his trailer that night, he had died happy. He died for something he loved—his circus and his carnies. They were the greatest testimony to his life.

_I can’t help it, I love the broken ones.  
The ones who need the most patching up.  
The ones who…  
Never been loved,  
Never been loved,  
Never been loved enough._

Rinoa stayed only a little longer after night fell. She had people in Africa counting on her to help them after all and her brother wouldn’t have wanted her to remain here mourning him, of that she was sure of. So, she told the children who remained at her side at the beach the longest what Leon’s will had entailed.

Roxas, Sora, Kairi, Xion, Riku, Axel, and Namine were shocked to say the least.

Hayner had already known and smiled at Rinoa faintly when she met his eyes.

At least, even though Leon was dead and all traces of his body were gone from this earth and returned to the sea, the legacy he had left behind with the carnival would not die with him. It would remain beyond his passing, led by the carnies themselves. After all, they would protect each other to the death. They were all they had.

After Rinoa and Angelo left, the eight of them gathered in Leon’s Airstream. Though the interior still smelled of blood, that was alright. It still felt as if Leon was here with them inside him home, watching over them. But even if they all wished he could still be there with them, none of them wanted him to be a lingering ghost in this world. He had died smiling so they hoped he was happy in his death, even if they missed him and didn’t understand why he was gone.

“Thank you, Leon,” the six carnies whispered collectively, each thinking of what the great man had done for them. Leon had saved each and every one of them, been there when no one else was. They owed him far more than a simple thanks but it didn’t seem like any other words were needed. “Thank you.”

Peace descended.

_Maybe I see a part of me in them.  
The missing piece, always trying to fit in.  
The shattered heart, hungry for a home,  
No, you’re not alone.  
I love the broken ones!_

The ocean was mother to all life and the entire world. From her depths, the first life had walked onto the new green terra and become the countless species that bred and flourished, loved and hated, lived and died. Then, at the end of their lives, they all returned unto her. 

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 

It wasn’t yet Leon’s time to go, but she accepted and welcomed him into the great spirit with open arms.

X X X

I got a little desperate there at the end because I had one more stanza left and no more characters or feelings to talk about, so try not to pay attention to it. That always happens when I add song lyrics because I don’t plan far enough ahead and run out at the very last second.

Questions, comments, concerns?

Who cried?

Review!

And check out Dia’s song!


	32. The Telling of Roxas and Sora Heart

Ah, the big revelation! Roxas and Sora’s past! 

I hope… I think… maybe…

And since things did suddenly get away from me, I think this might wrap itself up by forty or forty-five chapters. Oh well, that happens to me a lot. Things get away and they don’t come back! I give up! I quit! I surrender! They can just do whatever the heck they want from now on! They can all run naked and wild in the street for all I care!

Okay… rant over.

X X X

Namine stared mournfully at the screen of her cell phone. It was Tuesday morning and her mother would be there to collect Namine and Hayner on Friday. Even though she knew it was dangerous here with the carnies, Namine wasn’t ready to leave and it wasn’t just the paintings anymore. 

She genuinely liked these people, especially Roxas. He reminded her of a small animal that had been beaten beyond repair. He was hurting, but still loved and cared and now, he was baring his fangs at the one who had hurt him so badly. Sora looked the same way. They were twins way down deep beneath their skin.

Though Namine still couldn’t bring herself to paint since Leon’s death, she sketched the twins like that. In black and white, it was even more apparent that they knew something bad was coming for them and they were going to stand and fight to the death. This time, their father would not take anything away from them, not if they could help it.

…

Kairi grabbed Sora by his sleeve and desperately pulled him to her. His big blue eyes met her, unwavering and strong-willed. There was something very different in Sora’s eyes in that short moment that Kairi’s fingers almost limply fell to her sides, but she hung on to him.

“Sora,” she gasped. “What’s going on?”

He smiled and pulled her to him. For a long moment, he just held her tightly against his narrow chest as if he wanted to absorb her into himself to protect her so completely. His arms were so strong from working the High Striker, lean and corded with muscle, and his hands were rough with old burn scars. 

“Sora,” she said again.

But he only cupped her face firmly, pulled her to him, and kissed her deeply as he had yesterday before Leon’s funeral. She wrapped both arms around him, her hands gripping his shoulder and feeling the muscles of his back moving beneath his honeyed flesh. 

When he finished kissing her, he smiled and said, “Kairi, I… I think I love you.”

“You what?” she gasped.

Before she could reject him or even return his confession, Sora kissed her again until all rational thoughts were gone from her head. Once her mind was deliciously empty and her body smelled of Sora’s skin, he walked quickly away. She didn’t realize that he had stopped kissing her until Riku called her name and brought her back down to earth. 

“Why are you standing there?” Riku asked her.

“I was…” she blushed furiously. She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

But Riku must have known because he grinned at her cheekily.

“Oh! Go away!” Kairi shouted at him.

The glowing-eyed man quickly escaped from her, vanishing among the shadows of the antique carousel. A moment later he returned though and asked her to help him polish the horses as Leon would have wanted. The carousel was one of his treasures and they were going to take immaculate care of it as a tribute to his memory. Kairi couldn’t help but aid him, her mind full of the taste of Sora’s lips and the feeling of his arms around her so tightly. 

_‘I… I think I love you.’_

Kairi smiled as she polished the beautiful romance side of the leading hippocampus. 

…

Axel hadn’t had his lighters and matches and lint balls in more than a month. In more than a month, he hadn’t set anything on fire. At first, it had made him unbelievably jittery and unhappy, like a junkie in desperate need of a fix, but now he found he rather liked not having everyone following him around with fire extinguishers. He wasn’t really a pyromaniac anymore—though he still loved the leaping swirling dancing flames. He wished Leon was here so he could tell the man who was more like his father than his own parent how far he had come.

Axel stood on the bluff above the Dream Sea and whispered his confession to the chilly ocean breeze. Ancient civilizations used to believe Heaven was on the other side of the mother waters so maybe… maybe Leon heard his words in Heaven. Axel could hope that he did.

“You’d better not be thinking of jumping.” Xion voice rang across the waves.

Axel turned to smiled at her. “I’m not. I was just…” He couldn’t say it. It would sound silly if he said it out loud.

Xion came to stand beside him at the edge of the bluff, watching the waves. “Axel… we… we need you, okay?”

He wrapped an arm companionably around her shoulders. “I know. Don’t worry, I’m never going to jump.”

She sniffled. “Good, because… I don’t know if I could bear to lose another person in my life.”

He squeezed her against him. “Me neither,” he said softly.

She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and smiled painfully through her tears.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s head back. Roxas and Sora want to talk to us.”

“About what?” Xion asked.

“They didn’t say,” Axel said with a shrug.

…

The twins had packed their friends into their trailer, sitting quietly in a small misshapen circle throughout the space. There was one empty chair, left there as if in unspoken agreement that Leon would be with them, listening and watching over them.

“We need to talk,” Sora began.

“We know who’s doing this,” Roxas continued.

Hayner sucked in a breath, his knuckles whitening into fists.

“Did what?” Kairi asked, her cheek heating as Sora met her eyes and smiled.

“Who killed Leon and Myrtle,” Roxas explained.

“What?” Xion and Axel gasped in unison.

Namine bit her lip.

“It our father,” the twins said. “Ansem Heart.” 

“The man who escaped from the mental institution,” Sora whispered and glanced at Roxas.

“And the one who did this to me,” Roxas confessed after a moment of hesitation.

“Those burns,” Axel breathed.

Roxas nodded.

Silence reigned between them as this horrible information burned into their minds that same way the cigarettes had been burned into Roxas’s skin.

“Why are we here?” Namine whispered to break the thick silence.

Sora took a deep breath. “We have to tell you what happened to us,” he said. 

“It’s important that you know because…” Roxas broke off.

“Our father is coming back to finish what he started when we were young,” Sora finished for him.

“Then he’s the one who killed…?” Xion breathed out, her blue eyes filling with tears.

“Myrtle and Leon,” Riku put in softly.

The twins nodded and then looked at each other. “Whenever you’re ready,” they both said softly to each other. Then, they turned to face their friends before them, took deep breaths, and began with the end of their lives as they had once known them.

X X X

Well, look at that, what I had planned didn’t happen… Grr!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	33. A Dark Night in the Past: Pt I

Okay, this time! I promise!

X X X

The Heart household was one of those places that looked perfect if you were standing on the curbside. The house was pure white, freshly painted by the professor’s twin boys each summer with the help of their father. The shutters were pale blue with dainty blue window boxes full of bright blooming pansies, daisies, and posies beneath each and every window. The windows were all framed with white lace curtains, rolled bamboo blinds that were always open during the day, and looked into perfectly cleaned rooms with perfect antique furniture and warm pale cream, blue, and yellow walls depending on the room. 

_It looked like the picture perfect house with the picture perfect family._

Lillian Heart was a beautiful young woman with curls of sweet butter-colored hair framing her beautiful heart-shaped face. She was loved by all her children’s friends and coveted by husbands. She was the kind of woman who made birthday cakes even when it wasn’t your birthday and always had dinner ready at six o’clock. No one knew that she was a master of applying make-up to the wounds on her face so that she looked like a perfect porcelain doll each day to kiss her husband on the front steps before he left for work.

Katie Heart was one of those little girls who dreamed of being a princess and if anyone could have managed that, it would had been her. She was so sweet with a round little face and big honest eyes as blue as her brothers’. She often wore delicate floral dresses and no shoes with flowers twined in her long midnight blue-black hair. No one knew that her last meal had been days ago and that she felt like a folded paper doll that was slowly being shredded from the inside out by her life. She pretended she was a princess and she survived. 

The twins, Roxas and Sora Heart, were the sons that every father and mother wanted for their own. They were good students, wonderful athletes, and fantastic children that never screamed or struggled or argued. Like their mother and sister, they were beautiful children too—Roxas with his pale windswept honey-blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes and Sora with his chocolate tresses and sky-colored eyes. No one knew that they slept side by side in the basement for warmth at night, clinging to each other. 

_They were the picture perfect family in the picture perfect house._

Ansem Heart, though, was not an attractive man in the least and he worked as only a professor at Liberty College. He wasn’t rich, he wasn’t handsome, and he wasn’t going to become anything. Sometimes, people wondered how he had managed to get Lillian to love and marry him, but when they looked at the house and the family inside it, they decided it must have been something as simple as love. That was it. They loved each other, that had to be it, so people smiled at Ansem as they passed and were jealous of his sweet wife and beautiful children.

_Picture perfect house…_

_Picture perfect family…_

It was lies.

It was all lies.

Just _lies._

Lillian had married Ansem because her family was strict and old-fashioned. After she got pregnant, she had no choice. With the twins growing in her belly, he owned her—body and soul. If she had known what her new husband would have become, she swore that she never would have married him, even if it meant being disowned by her family. Only days after they were married, Ansem stopped caring about her and became distant. 

The first time he hit Lily, she brushed it off. She did the same thing the second, third, fourth, fifth… Then, he broke her nose and sent her to the hospital.

She should have said what was happening to her then, but she was in her second month of pregnancy and just beginning to show. She had nowhere to go and he was her husband so she told the nurse that she had fallen into the door. To compound her lie, she insisted that she had been mopping and that the floor was wet and that she was clumsy. Ansem smiled as he watched her from the threshold as he nose was reset and taped and the blood was wiped from her beautiful face. 

Before Roxas and Sora were born, Ansem sent Lily to the Emergency Room six more times—one for each month of her pregnancy. It was almost as if he was punishing her. The sixth time, the injury sent her into early labor and the twins had been born a month premature. As if he had wished that they would die, Ansem beat Lily within an inch of her life when she came home from the hospital and the boys were still in the hospital for evaluation. 

When she came to pick up her babies, she told the nurse that she had fallen once again and laughed painfully.

In the months that followed Roxas and Sora’s births, Ansem seemed better. He stopped hitting Lily. He laughed and smiled and he was almost like the man Lily had fallen in love with. Then, when they twins turned two, he changed once again. It was as sudden as a hurricane and just as unprompted.

Lily was at the store shopping for dinner. A rack of lamb would be nice, she had been thinking and the thought that she had left her babies home with her husband didn’t even cross her mind. After all, Ansem was changing. He wouldn’t hurt his sons. He had even stopped hurting her. 

Lily’s life was beginning to look up for the first time since she found out that she was pregnant.

But, while she was gone, Roxas had knocked over a lamp and it had shattered on the tile floor. Children broke things—it was universally accepted—but Ansem flew off the handle. He had been on the porch, smoking, and told the boys to behave while he stepped out. The sound of the shattering made him livid. The red-hot cigarette he stubbed out on his young son’s face, just beneath the lobe of his ear, as punishment. When Lily came home, she found Roxas and Sora huddled together, both crying because what hurt one of them hurt the other as well. 

When she took them to the hospital to have Roxas’s burn treated, she didn’t have an excuse and that was the last time her family went to the hospital for an injury that wasn’t either a broken bone or life-threatening. The nurse was too suspicious and asked her about her life at home. Lily had nowhere to go except back to Ansem, so she ran out of the hospital.

In the year that following, their lives became a game that Lily played with her boys. She tried to make them pretend that nothing bad was happening, that everything was alright, even when they hid in the closet and watched their father beating their mother until she passed out.

Then, Lily became pregnant again. 

For nine months, all Ansem did was work and he didn’t hurt them.

Then, Katie was born. 

She was a colicky baby, always crying, all through the night and day. Since Ansem couldn’t very well have beaten the baby to shut her up, he beat his wife instead. Lily took it with a grain of salt, she was protecting her children was how she looked at it.

For years, they lived like that. 

On the outside, everything looked perfect, but inside that house… unspeakable things happened.

_It looked like the picture perfect house with the picture perfect family. They were the picture perfect family in the picture perfect house. Picture perfect family… Picture perfect house… It was lies, all lies, lies._

Then, finally, the events that sent Lily and Katie to their graves and Roxas and Sora into the arms of Leon’s circus took place. Roxas and Sora were still missing, considered dead. Ansem went to the mental institution, but escaped years later to kill Myrtle and Leon. But what started all that was a simple night in which everything reached its breaking point and then shattered.

X X X

It’ll be the next chapter, I swear!

Questions, comments, concerns?


	34. A Dark Night in the Past: Pt II

Ah, this story is finished so all I have to do is leisurely post. And finish all the backlogged suggestions for Lemon Island. I always wrap those up when I’m between stories. I’m thinking I might do a Ghost Hunt story crossed with Fatal Frame Two or I might do Vampire Knight… Hmm?

Alright, second part. It came to about three so deal with it.

X X X

It was raining. 

That was something that Roxas would always remember. 

When it started, it was raining outside the picture perfect white house. His beautiful mother was standing at the stove, whipping the potatoes with butter and milk. There was a meatloaf in the oven, filling the house with the wonderful scent of cooking meat. One side of Lily’s pretty face was darkened with a bruise and she would have to apply some concealor before she went outside to greet her husband like the perfect wife. Roxas felt sick with the thought of his father coming home.

“Roxas?” Lily asked. “Is everything alright?” 

Across from him at the table, Katie was eating a sandwich before dinner. That would have seemed strange if it wasn’t for the fact that their father always took the food off her plate so that she hardly got to eat anything. Katie was already thin enough that she looked more like a doll than a human girl. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Roxas murmured.

Since he had turned two, Roxas had earned a small crop of cigarette burns behind his ear and they were starting to creep across his neck and jawbone as his father ran out of space for punishment. Ever since then, he had the bad habit of touching the aching group of scars. He did that now.

Lily touched the back of his hand and Roxas stopped, looking up into her pained face, but she didn’t remark on the scars. “Where’s your brother?” was all she said.

“Sora’s on his way home from his soccer game,” Roxas told her.

Lily looked out the window. “It’s raining,” she said.

“Don’t worry. He took an umbrella.”

Lily sighed and turned back to their dinner. Roxas could feel her wishing that she hadn’t ever married Ansem, that there was some way she could get them out of here, that she could protect her children and herself. She looked so young and frail, more like his sister than his mother and he wished there was something her could do to help her not be in so much pain. But sometimes, it was all he could do just to protect himself and try to protect Sora. 

Roxas was about to try to say something to try to comfort his mother when Sora burst in through the front door and shoved the wet umbrella into the hall closet.

“Sora? What is it?” Katie asked, taking a quick bite of her sandwich like she was in a competition.

“He was right behind me!” Sora gasped out. “Hurry!”

Lily glanced at the clock. “It’s five-forty-five,” she said. “He’s fifteen minutes early!”

“Quick!” Roxas said and helped Katie dump the remains of her sandwich into the trash and swiftly set the table. Sora ran to their room to get out of his damp soccer uniform and wipe the sweat from his face. Lily wished there was something she could do to hurry the meatloaf, but it still had another fifteen minutes to cook. They couldn’t very well eat it raw, but Lily turned up the heat on the oven to hurry it along. 

Swiftly, the Heart family pretended to be perfect. If they were perfect, then maybe… maybe they wouldn’t be hurt.

Roxas fingered the scars of cigarette burns behind his ear, swallowing nervously. Sora joined Katie at the table, patting her on the back comfortingly, and she met his eyes with a small forced smile. With her hair so dark and shiny, it made her skin look as pale as paper. Lily took a basket of hot rolls wrapped in linen from the microwave, set them on the table, and nervously looked at the door. Roxas was standing beside it, waiting to take his father’s umbrella, coat, and bag.

At the time, it seemed like Ansem coming home early was just a stroke of bad luck or he had had a bad day at work and wanted to get home to vent his rage on his family. 

Now, in hindsight, Roxas realized that Ansem had probably planned on coming home early to catch them unawares. If the rain hadn’t slowed down Sora and given them a chance to prepare, who knew what would have happened. 

As it was, what happened next was far from pleasant. 

When Ansem entered the house and found Roxas patiently waiting to take his coat and umbrella, the table perfectly set, and his wife’s bruised face perfectly hidden with make-up, he was surprised. His darkly tanned face was smooth, though, and he showed no sign of his shock. Instead, he handed his oldest son his umbrella and wet coat, kissed his wife, patted his daughter on the head, and slid his eyes to Sora whose hair was still wet from the rain. 

Sora must have seen him, he realized, and warned the others. That boy would have to be punished… What had he been doing out that he had seen Ansem coming home early?

“I’m home,” Ansem said.

“Welcome back,” Lily murmured, accepting the kiss with a wince of pain as he pressed at a bruise. 

“What’s for dinner?” Ansem asked his wife.

“Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and sweet rolls,” she told him.

“Yum,” he said and sat down.

“It’s not ready yet,” Lily said nervously. “You’re… home early.”

“Huh,” was all Ansem said.

Lillian immediately hurried to dish out the potatoes and meatloaf regardless of whether or not they were finished. Then, she sat down across from her husband. The twins sat to her left at the square table and Katie sat to her right. Nervously, the small family began to eat, all save Ansem who quickly dug in and then began to eat everything off Katie’s plate. The young girl accepted this as usual, sipping her milk and meeting her brothers’ bright blue eyes.

Ansem’s first assault on his family that night was sudden and violent, bloody. 

Sora had to be punished for giving his early arrival away.

No one saw the attack coming.

When Ansem had cleaned both his plate and Katie’s, deeming the meal to his liking and therefore over with a loud belch, Lily immediately got up and began to clear the table. Since Roxas was the oldest, he got to his feet to help her. Sora and Katie remained sitting at the table with their father. Ansem’s hard golden eyes were lazy and half-lidded, lizard-like, his chest rising and falling slowly. He waited for his wife to start running water in the sink to do that dishes. Then, the moment arrived. Roxas dropped a fork, bent to pick it up, and for a split second, Sora removed his eyes from his father.

Ansem grabbed the knife that was still on the table, waiting to be cleared, and plunged it into the back of Sora’s shoulder. A yelp of pain escaped the younger twin, Roxas immediately whirled, and Lillian shouted something. Scrambling, Sora fell from his chair, the knife still sticking up from his body like an accusing finger.

“No!” he begged, reaching out to try to stop his father’s advances on his fallen form.

Roxas threw himself at Ansem sidelong, but his father batted him away as if he was an insignificant insect. Roxas crashed into the fridge, stunned, and slid to his knees. It felt as if something inside his body had broken. Why did it hurt so much? Then, he spotted the gleam of brass knuckles a moment before Ansem drilled his fist into Sora’s gut.

A shriek of pain escaped Sora, he tried to roll over to protect himself, hacking. 

Ansem pulled the knife from Sora’s shoulder, punched him in the face so that Sora’s vision swam and he had no chance to defend himself, and lifted it to stab his son. 

“No!” Lily shouted. She grabbed the pot that she had used to boil the potatoes from the drain board and smashed it into her husband’s head. The loud sound echoed through the house, but undaunted, Ansem lifted his head and grinned at his wife. Then, he turned the knife on her.

Lillian Heart never had a chance.

Ansem stabbed her nine times. There was so much blood, hot and sticky, spreading across the floor in a crimson pool until it touched Sora’s body like a warm caress. His blue eyes swam back into focus, wondering if all that blood was his. Then, Lily’s face inches from his own, he saw her faint smile of reassurance as the life bled out of her.

Sora lurched up, heedless of his wounds. “No!” He threw himself at his father and sent them both tumbling over and over on the blood-slick floor. 

Roxas grabbed the knife from his mother’s body, but hesitated. Sora and Ansem were so deeply entangled that if he stabbed into them, he might hurt Sora instead.

“Katie,” Lily gasped with her last breath. “Call… police…”

Katie rose from the table, moving towards the phone.

Ansem got his feet in Sora’s gut and shoved him off, throwing him into the kitchen table with a crash. “Bitch!” he shrieked at his wife. Then, he punched her in the face, the brass knuckles breaking her jaw so that it hung slack and wide. A wild shriek of agony escaped her throat, going on and on.

Roxas lunged at Ansem, but he grabbed the knife from his son, kicked him backwards, and stabbed his wife nine more times in the chest. It was then that Lillian Heart’s life finally ended.

Katie had the phone in her hands, but was frozen in terror. “Mommy,” she whispered.

“Run, Katie!” Sora gasped out, clutching his ribs.

She tried to, but Ansem grabbed her by the hem of her dress and threw her into the kitchen cabinets. Since the knife was still embedded in Lillian’s body, he wrapped his hands around Katie’s thin throat and began to squeeze.

“Get off of her!” Roxas shouted and threw himself at his father’s back.

Ansem’s forehead crashed into the fridge and Katie squirmed away from him, running to Sora. She grabbed her brother’s hand and pulled him to his feet. Staggering, he pressed her to his side and tried to protect her as Roxas and Ansem grappled on the floor.

“Run, Katie,” Sora whispered.

“I’m scared.”

“You’ll be okay. Run!” he insisted.

Ansem threw Roxas off. Roxas’s head smashed into the corner of the overturned table, some thick crimson bled through his pale hair, and Roxas didn’t move. Then, Ansem got up, actually brushed himself off, picked up the knife from Lily’s broken bloody body, and grinned at his two cowering children. 

“Run Katie!” Sora screamed, shoving her. He hurled himself at Ansem, but was already too injured and fell like a house of cards.

Ansem caught Katie by her long dark hair. She screamed, a wild howling banshee shriek, but her father plunged the knife through her face regardless. Katie crumpled, the knife protruding from her beautiful eye and blood weeping down her pale face, and didn’t move. She was dead.

“No,” Sora whimpered, trying to crawl.

Ansem put his foot on Sora’s back, grinding his beaten body into the tiles. “Bury them, Sora, or I’ll kill your brother.”

“No,” he begged. 

Ansem pressed harder, crushing the air from Sora’s lungs. “Bury her, Sora!”

Whimpering, Sora nodded into the cold bloodstained tiles.

Burying his mother and little sister was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. Standing in the rain, knee-deep in mud, Sora dug a shallow grave in the woods behind their house because his shoulder was throbbing and he could hardly breathe. The first shovelful of dirt over his mother’s beautiful face was the hardest. After that, he filled his head with thoughts of Roxas—of preventing their father from killing him inside the perfect white house—and it was easier that way. 

Sora heard his precious twin begin to scream inside the house. He whirled and raced to the window, beating his thin fist on the glass, but his father only grinned meanly at him and gestured flippantly for Sora to return to his task outside. 

“Bury her, Sora!” that man mouthed through the glass.

For the rest of his life, Sora wished the image of what his father had been doing hadn’t been branded on Roxas’s face. He wished that he had smashed the glass with the shovel and gotten into the house. He wished he had smashed his father in the face with the muddy shovel and stabbed him with the knife. He wished he had gone to the police. But he did none of those things. Sora returned into the mud and the rain in the dark night.

And so, he buried Lily and Katie Heart in the backyard of the picture perfect white house.

X X X

I fell so bad for this poor family. I always put my characters through hell, but this it just cruel and unusual… even for me. I think one more chapter of flashback and then on with the regular plot.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	35. A Dark Night in the Past: Pt III

I just discovered this somewhere… It’s hilarious! I might change my answering machine to this if it wasn’t so bloody long… Oh well! 

"Hello and welcome to Mental Health Hotline. If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press one repeatedly. If you are co-dependent, ask someone else to press two for you. If you have multiple personalities, press three, four, five, six, and seven. If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want so please stay on the line and we will trace your call. If you are delusional press, eight and your call will be transferred to the Mother Ship. If you are schizophrenic, please listen carefully and the small voice will tell you what number to press. If you are dyslexic, please press six or nine. If you are depressive, it doesn't matter what button you press because no one will answer. If you have short term memory loss, please try your call again later. If you have low self esteem hang up, all our operators are too busy to talk to you. Thank you for calling."

Enjoy!

X X X

Roxas woke up alone in the kitchen. The table had been righted, but nothing else was straightened. His body was secured to the kitchen table, wrists bound cruelly to the legs of the table, his ankles secured as well, with even a strip of rope holding his neck in place. He would barely move and immediately realized that he had no chance of escaping on his own. 

He glanced desperately around the kitchen, searching for something, anything. Lily’s deep crimson blood was still pooled all over the floor like glimmering red candle wax, Sora bloody handprints from his injured shoulder marked everything, and strands of Katie’s beautiful dark hair were spread across the floor. Neither his mother nor his sister’s bodies were visible in the kitchen, but Ansem was sitting at the end of the table, smoking in a state of delight. At the sight of the red-hot tip and curls of smoke, Roxas immediately panicked. The place behind his ear where his father usually burned him was already beginning to throb with the thought of a new burn.

“Hello,” Ansem said. 

“W-where is Sora?” Roxas forced out. In situations like this, it helped him to think of his twin. Somehow, it made it easier not to concentrate on the pain. Maybe it was that the bond between twin siblings was so close that Sora could share his pain and take it away just through thoughts.

Ansem blew a perfect smoke ring and stood from the chair.

Roxas strained against the ropes, but only managed to choke himself. He still and gasped for breath desperately as Ansem set the block of knives on the table just beside Roxas’s head. The man selected a knife, fingered the shiny blade, and ran the tip across Roxas’s chest. 

“Stop,” Roxas gasped out, shuddering. What was his father going to do to him?

The tip of the knife dug into his belly, barely deep enough to draw blood. Then, in one swift motion, Ansem cut the shirt Roxas wore from waist to his throat, the cold blade scraping along Roxas’s bare chest. The pale unblemished skin prickled with goose bumps from cold and fear.

“Stop,” he pleaded. 

Ansem grinned, lying the knife aside and pulling the shirt the rest of the way off. He ran his hand over his son’s perfect pale flesh, relishing the way Roxas trembled in fear beneath his thumb. Those blue eyes were so desperately wide, terrified. 

“W-where is Sora?” Roxas gasped, trying to ignore the touch on his body.

Ansem took a deep drag on his cigarette, the tip glowing red. Then, he took it from his mouth and considered the burning embers. He brought it close to Roxas’s face, close enough that the stink of smoke and the heat of the tip filled up his entire world.

“Please, don’t,” he begged. No matter how many times his father had burned him, he would never get used to the pain. “Please.”

Ansem hushed him, soothingly. 

Roxas squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Then, the burning tip of the cigarette touched his cheek. He yanked his head away, a small animalistic shriek of pain and fear escaping his throat. The rope cut into his throat, choking him. He turned his head, trying to suck some air into his parched lungs.

“Please, no,” Roxas begged again.

Ansem clucked his tongue. 

Then, he grabbed a fistful of Roxas’s pale golden hair and jerked his son’s face back towards him. Then, he took another drag on his cigarette and cruelly snuffed it out on Roxas’s pale face, grinding it into the fragile skin just beside his eye. A scream tore from Roxas’s throat, echoing off the walls of the perfect white house.

Eyes watering in agony, Roxas only just barely saw his twin’s beautiful face at the window. Sora beat desperately on the glass.

Ansem’s lips moved, but Roxas didn’t know what he said. 

Sora must have though because, with a look of tangible anguish, he was then gone from the window.

Ansem pulled his chair up beside Roxas’s head, lit another cigarette, and took a long drag. This one he didn’t put out on Roxas’s face, but rather his collarbone. Roxas screamed again, desperately trying to breathe in the air that was full of smoke and the scent of his burning flesh. But Ansem only relit the cigarette, took a short puff, and continued what he had started. By the time Ansem finished destroying the entire left side of Roxas’s face and chest, he couldn’t even scream. Everything had been torn out of him.

…

When Roxas returned to consciousness, Sora was cradling him against his chest. Sora’s body was soaking wet and cold and he smelled of wet earth. He was even trembling weakly, sobbing brokenly as he cradled his twin against his chest.

“Sora,” Roxas groaned and tried to lift his hand to his face.

“No, don’t!” Sora gasped. “Don’t… touch…”

“What is it?” he whispered.

Tears dripped from Sora’s eyes like rain, falling on Roxas’s upturned face. Then, Sora picked up a small hand mirror that Roxas recognized as one of Katie’s and held it so that Roxas could see his face. The entire left side of his face was ruined, burned beyond repair, beyond healing, beyond… humanity. The burns traveled down his throat and chest, marring every inch of his milk-pale flesh. The blood and burned flesh was everywhere, but Roxas could hardly feel the pain.

Roxas reached to touch his face again, but Sora grasped his hand. “Don’t,” he begged his twin.

“Father did this?”

Sora sobbed. “He’s not finished…”

Roxas squeezed his hand tightly, rubbing Sora’s dirty knuckles. “Where are Katie and Mom?”

He cried softly, tears rolling down his face. “I buried them… in the backyard…”

Roxas touched Sora’s perfect face gingerly. “We don’t look like twins anymore, do we?” he whispered.

Sora covered Roxas’s hand with his own, his tears running over Roxas’s skin. “No,” he sobbed.

“Sora… we need to get out of here,” Roxas whispered. “You know he’ll kill us this time…”

“Where can we go?” Sora whispered.

“It doesn’t matter,” the older twin murmured. “We just… have to get out.”

“So long as I can be with you.”

Roxas lifted the mirror, gently probed the burns on his face, winced in pain, and felt the bloom of fresh hot blood rolling down his neck. Sora gently pulled the mirror from his brother’s grip, but Roxas still saw his ruined face reflected in Sora’s blue eyes. He closed his eyes, tears burning beneath his closed lids.

“Roxas,” Sora whispered. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Thanks,” he murmured.

X X X

Oopsy, I lied again. The next chapter will be the last section of the flashback chapters. These things are just winding up mad long… Oh well. Anyone who’s traumatized can always contact the Mental Health Hotline. Which number will you be pressing? Hmm?

Questions, comments, concerns?


	36. A Dark Night in the Past: Pt IV

This is the final chapter of Sora and Roxas’s past. Back to the main plot next chapter.

X X X

Ansem Heart was sitting at his bloodstained kitchen table, studying the ashtray packed with butts and the blood that was all over his perfect white house. He had tossed the twin boys into the basement earlier and now sat, enjoying what he had done, at the kitchen table. He was finally rid of his worthless family—his wife, his daughter, and those twins… He poured himself a glass of brandy and drank deeply, drawing in a lungful of smoke. 

Then, he stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray and took a butcher’s knife from the block. He eyed his reflection on the silver blade, smiled at himself, and then laid the knife on the bloodied table beside the ashtray. First, he would butcher Sora in front of Roxas. Then, he would force Roxas to dig up Katie and Lily and pack them away in the trunk of his car. Then, he would burn the other half of Roxas’s face and body until the boy begged for death. 

Then, he would drive all their bodies to the ocean and throw them into the sea. 

It was perfect.

…  
Since Roxas was so hurt, Sora was the one to break the window in the basement with his elbow. A rush of muddy filthy water poured in, stinking and weighing Sora down, chilling hi to the bone. All he could think about was burying his mother and little sister’s bodies in the backyard. 

“Alright,” Sora said. “I’m going out and then I’ll help you out.”

Roxas nodded.

Sora put his palms on the sill, heaved himself up, and squirmed through the small window. His shoulders scraped and caught, but he wedged himself through anyway. If his shoulders had been much broader, he wouldn’t have been able to fit at all. He clawed at the mud, dragging his body the rest of the way out. Then, he reached in for Roxas’s hand.

“Here, Roxas, give me your hand,” Sora said softly. 

The rain lashed down at his back, freezing and heavy. Sora felt weak, the mental and physical exhaustion and pain catching up with him. Even as the cold water ran over Roxas’s burns, he didn’t seem to feel it. Roxas must have been in a state of shock or something.

“Roxas,” Sora said again.

This time, his twin reached for him. Sora grasped Roxas’s hand and pulled, heaving his big brother out the basement window. His feet slid out from underneath him, claimed by the mud, and he went down hard. Roxas yelped out in pain as his shoulder connected with the window frame.

“Roxas, almost there,” Sora urged him.

Roxas curled in his shoulders, gripped Sora’s hand tighter, and together they managed to get out of the basement that was the gateway to Hell. They collapsed in the mud, panting, and Roxas yelped again as his burns filled with cold water and mud. Sora pulled him to his feet.

“You’re okay. Let’s get out of here,” he pleaded.

Roxas nodded.

They staggered to their feet, making their way around the house. The plan was to get into the wood and escape into the darkness. When they were safe, they would call the police about Katie and Lily before Ansem had a chance to dispose of their bodies properly. But first, they had to get away from the picture perfect white house where their father lived. If he was still in the kitchen, they would have to walk right past him. It was dangerous, but what other choice did they have?

Sora wrapped his arms around Roxas’s waist, dragging him to his feet. “Come on, Roxas, it’ll be okay.”

Roxas touched his burned face, whimpering in pain. The cold water was bringing the feeling back to him and it was agony. 

“Sora… I don’t know if I can…”

“You have to!” 

Sora hugged him close. “Please, don’t leave me all alone.”

“Go without me, Sora,” Roxas begged his twin. “Please.”

Sora shook his head. “Never! Please, get up. You have to come with me!”

Roxas shook his head. “I can’t… Sora, I just can’t…”

Tear flooded Sora’s blue eyes. “Then I’ll stay. I’ll stay and die with you.”

Roxas shook his head again. “No. Go, Sora, please.”

Sobbing and crying, though it was lost to the rain, Sora helped his twin hide in the thick azalea bushes that surrounded the house. Like that, he prayed that Ansem wouldn’t find Roxas. Then, Sora ducked around the house and ran. 

If he could just get help…! If he could bring back the police…! If only, if only…!

A large dark hand appeared out of the darkness, grasping a fistful of his hair, and yanking him into the white house. Sora screamed, his voice bouncing off the distant mountains, but there was no one around to hear it except Roxas. They were both as good as dead.

…

The rain wasn’t quite able to reach Roxas where he was hunkered inside the protection of the azalea bush, but a cold wind whistled through the leaves. He was cold and he was soaked to the bone from crawling out the basement window and all his burns were throbbing with a second heartbeat. 

But Sora had gone for help. His twin was strong and fair, caring nothing for his own life, only the lives of the people around him. The panic of death and threat of their father’s pursuit would give him strength. Sora would get help and everything would be alright now.

Then, Roxas heard his twin’s shrill scream. 

…

Ansem threw his youngest son down on the bloodstained table where he had earlier tied down and burned Roxas. Sora was screaming and struggling. Ansem had at least one hundred pounds on Sora, but the youth as in a state of panic and was flailing wildly. His skin was slick with water and mud, but even so, Ansem managed to rope the boy’s wrists and ankles to the table. Even once he was bound down, Sora was still not ready to admit defeat.

“Shut up!” Ansem shouted. He backhanded Sora.

Shock and pain quieted him for a moment. Those wide blue eyes stared up at Ansem, tears gathering in the corner. His face was smeared with mud and Roxas’s blood. 

Ansem lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag. “Where’s your brother? It’s not like you to be apart.”

Sora bit his lip, but refused to speak. 

The man moved across the kitchen and wet a wash cloth with warm water. Sora squirmed, flinching, as Ansem began to wipe the mud and blood from his pale face. Their father had never shown any of his children a scrap of kindness and the only kindness he ever showed their mother was allowing her to share his bed. For him to be this gentle, Sora knew something terrible was going to happen to him. Maybe Ansem was going to burn him… just like Roxas…

“Stop,” Sora gasped, straining against the bonds that held him to the table.

“Tell me where Roxas is.”

“Are you afraid of what we’ll do to you?” Sora bit out.

Ansem punched him, hard and mean. Then, he gingerly wiped the blood that trickled from Sora’s broken nose. “Tell me, son…”

“Let me go,” Sora whispered.

“Where is Roxas?” Ansem growled, rolling his hand into a tight fist.

Sora squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember what to do with his teeth to prevent them from shattering inside his mouth. Did he clench them? Or not? He didn’t want to bite his tongue either. A small moan of fear escaped him, animalistic in nature. 

Ansem stroked the side of Sora’s face, tender, careful. “Where is he? I can’t do anything until I know where he is…”

“I won’t—” Sora began.

Ansem punched him again and his mouth flooded with blood. “Where is Roxas?”

“Let me go!” Sora shrieked. 

He punched his son in the face again, blood rolling from the corner of Sora’s mouth and his blue eyes beginning to painfully swell. Then, he coiled his fingers around Sora’s thin throat and began to squeeze. “Tell me! And this will all be over. I’ll let you go, boy.”

“N-no…” Sora whimpered.

Ansem threw himself down in the kitchen chair, grumbling. He folded his arms over his chest, glaring down his nose at Sora. He lit up his cigarette, took a long drag, and then stared at the burning flame. He could burn Sora, like Roxas, but Roxas had been able to resist him. 

Burning them—it wasn’t enough. 

He needed more… 

He needed something worse to do to Sora…

Ansem thought a moment and then it came to him. For a moment, he left the kitchen, gathered what he needed, and then returned. Sora was still thrashing around, trying to get free, struggling with all there was left in his body. Ansem roughly gagged and blindfolded Sora with a silk tie that Lily had once given him. Then, he lashed Sora’s legs together tightly so he wouldn’t be able to run and could barely stand. Finally, he bound the boy’s thin wrists together in front of him and let Sora hear the hiss of ignition as he lit a burner on the gas stove.

“Where is Roxas, Sora?” Ansem growled.

Sick little sounds of terror were escaping from Sora’s throat, desperation and fear choking off his voice. The heat of the flame tickled Sora’s sweaty palms and he tried to squirm away. “P-please,” Sora choked out through the tie that was wrapped tightly around his mouth. “Please, don’t…”

Ansem forced his hands lower, closer to the licking burner.

A muffled scream tore from Sora’s mouth.

“Last chance,” Ansem said.

Sora shook his head wildly, tears dripping beneath the blindfold. 

Then, Ansem pressed Sora’s hands to the burner on the stove. The flames devoured Sora’s flesh, blackening and torching his soft pale flesh. For a moment, Sora managed to fight his urge to scream, but then, it finally tore from him. He screamed in agony, squirming and wrestling and trying his hardest to escape from his father’s hold. The flames of the gas burner seeped under his fingernails and Sora could swear that the fire was burning the marrow in his bones. He was blindfolded and that just made it all the worse. The pain darkened the edge of his vision, sweeping him away into the abyss. 

The last thing he heard was someone shout, “Let him go!” 

He didn’t even feel the floor rush up to meet him.

…

When the Heart’s neighbor, James Wise, heard screaming and called the police, Ansem Heart was waiting for them. He was sitting at the bloodstained table, smoking and drinking coffee, just waiting. He knew the police were coming for him and there was nothing he could do to clean up this mess in time. 

So, he basked in his own perfect world—his family was gone.

He was free.

But just beneath the surface, he was basking in the glow of his rage and hatred. His twin sons had managed to escape from him. While he was busy burning Sora’s hands, Roxas had clubbed him from behind with something and knocked him out.

When Ansem came around, they were already gone. 

No one had ever escaped him before. 

This would be a challenge for him.

This would be fun.

So Ansem Heart let the police go through the motions—digging up Katie and Lillian’s bodies, searching the house for clues, laying out what they thought had happened, interrogating him under the bright white light sending him away to Windy Hills Asylum. 

But they never did find Sora and Roxas’s bodies. 

When they asked Ansem what had happened to the boys, he didn’t answer them. He let the police believe his sons were both dead and buried somewhere where they would never be found until the end of time. That way when he escaped to finish the job, he would be able to destroy them.

…

When Sora dredged himself from the pit of pained unconsciousness, Roxas was with him. Ansem was lying on the floor, unconscious, the knife block lying scattered beside him. There were knives all over the bloodied floor. The burner was shut off and Roxas was gently wrapping Sora’s mangled hands with a damp cloth and aloe. 

“Roxas?” Sora whispered.

His twin’s beautiful face was so damaged that Sora knew it would never heal. Roxas would always carry the marks of this night, right on his face so he could never forget and never hide. But at least they were still alive. That was more than he could say for Lily and Katie.

Tears burned Sora’s eyes. “Roxas…”

“We have to get out of here, Sora,” Roxas whispered.

“Where do we go?”

“Anywhere.” Then, Roxas embraced his twin tightly. “I’m sorry. I… I couldn’t protect you.”

“I’m alright,” Sora whispered. “Stay with me.”

Roxas nodded.

In silence, they clung to each other in the ruins of their home.

“Sora,” Roxas said suddenly.

“Yeah?”

“Let’s make a promise.”

He nodded. 

“We’ll always be together after this, no matter what, okay?”

Sora squeezed him as tightly as he dared since Roxas was burned too. “Yes.”

Gently, Roxas helped Sora to his feet, the two of them leaning desperately on each other for support. Then, the two boys left the picture perfect white house into the rainy night. They were only eleven years old, soon to turn twelve by the time the search for them was ended. 

Now, five years later, their father was back to finish the job he had started that night.

X X X

This turned out to be quite the lengthy chapter and I was going to break it up, but there wasn’t really a good place to split it. Just wade through everyone! If you made it this far, you must have! Kudos! Phew, now that that’s out of the way…

So, what do we think of Sora and Roxas’s past?

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	37. The Truth About Hayner and Namine Waters

I’ve decided… I take back Namine having a happy childhood. It fits better that way.

X X X

The twins had told it together, each one picking up where the other left off. The carnies, plus Namine and Hayner, were all staring at Roxas and Sora. Their mouths were slightly open, eyes glimmering with empathetic tears, barely breathing, as the twin’s finished their story. Kairi had taken Sora’s damaged hand in her own, tracing the hideous scars there, and Roxas felt Namine’s eyes on his scarred face. Were they thinking of that time when Axel had started a fire and he had rushed out in only his boxers? Did they remember the totality of damage to his body? 

“When we were healed, we came here to Leon,” Roxas murmured finally. Then, he fell silent, catching Sora’s blue eyes. 

Sora passed him a weak smile, his eyes haunted by the past and the pain.

But it felt good to tell someone, Roxas realized. He felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from his soul. He somehow felt… freer, stronger, lighter. Then, the dark thought touched his heart. If they had only told Leon, would he be alive today? 

As if sensing his thoughts, Sora touched his shoulder and then shook his head.

“Yeah,” Roxas murmured, mostly to himself.

“Hell,” Xion whispered, her voice cracking with tears.

“It’s amazing you survived,” Axel whispered. “I don’t think I’ll ever look at… fire… the same way again.”

Riku clapped Axel on the back. “Guys, thank you for trusting us enough to tell us.”

Sora smiled. “I feel better for it. We’ve been keeping that in for so long…”

“But now,” Hayner said firmly. “Your psychopath father is after you again.”

“Don’t worry,” Roxas said, his mouth curving in a smile that looked so twisted with his damaged face. “This time… we’re going to kill him.”

“How?” Riku asked.

Sora wet his lips. “Leon has a handgun. He’ll come for us and we’ll kill him.”

Kairi sucked in a breath. “I’m against killing, but… I think it’s necessary in this situation.”

“He’ll never stop if we don’t,” Roxas said. 

“We can throw his body into the sea,” Axel added.

Namine’s eyes widened. “You’re really going to…”

Hayner’s mouth quirked. “I wish I could have done that.”

She silenced him with a look.

“Alright,” Xion said and clapped her small hands lightly. “We’ve got a lot to do and very little time to do it.”

Roxas nodded. “Let’s get moving.”

Then, true to what Sora had said so long ago, no one moved faster than carnies—especially when their family and lives were on the line. 

Within a few short hours, they had prepared everything so make stopping Ansem Heart as easy as possible. Xion returned Axel’s lighters since he had a new respect for fire knowing about Sora and Roxas’s burns. Riku and Hayner put nametags on all the trailers so that Ansem would be able to locate Sora and Roxas easily among the layout of trailers. Kairi and Namine reminded everyone of the pepper spray Leon had purchased for them and how not to use it. Then, everything was ready and they would not be taken or hurt this time. No one was faster or more dangerous than carnies.

“If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us, Ansem Heart,” Axel whispered and eyed the flame of his lighter.

…

Roxas was standing at the edge of the cliffs, looking out over the ocean. What would it be like to throw his father’s body into the sea and never have to fear him again? He was almost looking forward to it, but the thought of blood and death made his heart ache. He wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed causing pain.

“Mind if I join you?” Namine asked.

“No,” he murmured.

She came to stand beside him, looking like a pale ghost in the darkness. “Can I confess something to you?” she asked him.

He glanced at her. “What?”

She tucked some pale hair behind her ear. “Remember when I told you that I understood?”

He nodded. 

“I really do… understand. Hayner does, too. Sometimes I think that’s why he acts the way he does.”

“What did Hayner do?” Roxas asked. Suddenly, his heart was pounding. 

“He’ll tell you, I want to tell you about my family. You know it’s just me and my mother and brother living in that cottage,” she murmured.

Roxas sighed, knowing what was coming even before she said it. 

“My father was abusive. He used to always beat my mother. Hayner and I had to hide in the closet. Hayner always told me not to look, but I could see what he did to here through the crack in the door. I always wanted to help her,” Namine confessed softly. Her cheeks shone with tears.

Roxas wanted to comfort her, but didn’t know how. “She got away, didn’t she?”

Namine shook her head.

“But—”

“He had a heart attack while he was beating her and died,” Namine murmured.

“Oh,” he breathed.

“Why didn’t she leave him?” she asked Roxas.

“Maybe she couldn’t…”

She sniffled. “It was horrible. My home felt like Hell and I always wished I could run away and join the circus. I wanted to be safe.”

“That’s why we came here,” Roxas murmured. “The circus is safe.”

“But your father…”

“He’s hurt us before and we know how to deal with it.”

“I can’t think of it that way. Roxas… I… I’m afraid for you and Sora.”

“Why?” 

Namine choked out a sob. “Because I care about you. I… I really like you, Roxas.”

He turned to stare at her, his eyes so wide that she thought they might fall out of his head. “What?” he breathed.

“I do,” she whispered. “I like you.”

“But… Sora is…”

“Sora likes Kairi and Kairi likes him. I… I like you. Can you accept that?”

Tear swelled in Roxas’s eyes. “But… my face is…”

Namine wrapped her arms around his thin body, clutching him tightly, her fingers digging into his warm flesh through his t-shirt. Her small body shook and trembled with sobs. 

Roxas embraced her. It had been so long since anyone other than Sora had touched and held him, not since his mother and sister’s death. This was everything he had ever dreamed of and had been dreaming of since the first time he saw her in the Freak Tent. So much time had passed since then or at least, it felt like an eternity.

“Namine,” he whispered in the darkness.

“Please,” was all she said.

Gently, he lifted her chin to meet his eyes. 

She stared at him, her gaze earnest and sweet. 

“Thank you,” he whispered. 

“For what?” she asked, sniffling.

He smiled, his eyes softening and opening to show his heart like the petals of a blue flower. “For making me feel like a human and not a freak,” he said softly to her. “I haven’t felt that way in a long time…” Gingerly, he cupped her face, his eyes and fingertips asking for permission.

Her mouth formed a sad soft smile. “Roxas—” Then, she cut herself off by kissing the heavy scars on the left side of his face. 

A small gasp escaped him.

She smiled at him, her pale face lighting up. They were kindred spirits, he realized. Maybe that was why he had been drawn to her that night, maybe that was why all of this had happened, but Roxas didn’t believe in fate. This, he supposed, was luck.

Then, Namine tipped her head and gently kissed his lips.

He was so surprised that he didn’t even kiss her back.

She pulled away. “I’m sorry,” she began.

He cut her off with a kiss. Her arms went around his shoulders, pulling him close, her warm body pressing flush against his, rising onto her toes so she could reach his mouth better. His fingers threaded through her hair and her palm pressed against the damaged side of his face. Roxas didn’t have anything to compare her kiss to, but he suddenly felt as if he had wings. He felt light and happy.

Namine blushed, then smiled.

And he smiled as well.

…

Afterwards, Hayner confessed to them what he had done. He was the one who had painted fake blood all over the women’s bathroom and written, _Circus Freaks Be-Fucking-Ware_ , on the mirror. At first, Xion and Axel raged at him. But then Namine explained their past and that he was only concerned that she would find someone as dangerous as their father. Since Sora and Roxas could understand that, they forgave Hayner despite his attitude. Besides, he had changed since then. He had actually come to like them.

X X X

Kind of a filler. Had to get some stuff out of the way before the big showdown. Which I have planned for the next chapter so I should be able to wrap this up by forty chapters. Wish me luck! Nothing ever seems to go as I plan lately.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	38. Assault on the Circus: Ansem Heart

Alright!

X X X

Ansem Heart was watching from the shadows of the dark Ferris Wheel as his oldest son kissed the beauty in angelic white. What was she doing kissing a beast like Roxas? He licked his lips in an anticipation of the kill, of the mangling, of finally finished what he had started. New thought occurred to him as he hunkered there in the dark like a gargoyle. Maybe he would take everything from his sons again, just as he had five years ago when he killed Lily and Katie and tried to kill them.

He had seen Sora earlier with a beautiful redhead. They would make beautiful babies, if the girl survived long enough to fuck his beautiful younger son, that was.

And now, Roxas was here with this white angel. The beautiful girl deserved to be burned for accepting that hideous monster, just like Roxas had been burned. 

Ansem took a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, lit one, and took a deep drag on the acrid smoke. He didn’t have to worry about his sons smelling him because of the stiff sea breeze blowing in off the Dream Sea. Ever since the burning and killings five years ago, he was certain his sons were even more incredibly sensitive to the scent of smoke. They had always been able to smell him coming when they lived together in the picture perfect white house. Some things never changed.

…

Riku, Axel, and Hayner were bunked together in Riku’s trailer. Riku was sitting up in bed, his eyes closed so that the glow from them wouldn’t give him away to the others. He had a bad feeling and was unable to sleep. Axel was restlessly rolling around in his bed, trashing in the covers as if he was having a nightmare. Hayner was just lying there, still and silent like a corpse, but his breathing was abnormally deep and slow. Riku had a feeling that he was awake as well.

Kairi, Xion, and Namine were all in their shared trailer. Kairi’s skin was covered in goose bumps and cold sweat. She felt unspeakably unnerved, like something was lurking just outside, but she had gotten up a few times to stand at the window. Her hand always froze inches before the curtain. She didn’t want to look. Xion was snoring in her bed—she could always sleep. Namine kept rolling around and Kairi occasionally heard her inhale sharply. Maybe she was dreaming.

The twins were in their trailer, lying together in the bed. Neither one of them had gotten into their pajamas since Sora had told Roxas that he imagined he had been smelling smoke all day and that Roxas had smelled it too. They knew what that meant. They often imagined and associated the stink of brimstone, sulfur, and smoke on their father. They knew he was coming for them, to finish what he started. It was just a matter of when at this point.

Then, a shrill scream split the night.

…

Kairi was just about to fall asleep when she heard the creak of the hinges on her trailer door open. She lay still, listening. Maybe it was just Sora or Riku, checking on them. Her fingers tightened around her canister of pepper spray, just in case, though. Kairi turned her head, trying to make out the shape moving through the darkness of the trailer. It was male, too big to be Roxas or Sora but smaller than Riku. It could have been Axel or Hayner. 

She watched.

She waited.

Soft footsteps crossed the room to Namine’s bed. The girl was still sleeping restlessly and she looked like a white moth in the darkness. Suddenly, she moaned in her sleep as if in pain and rolled over. Kairi saw her face was twisted with a nightmarish expression. What could she have been dreaming about?

“Rest in peace, bitch,” the figure in the darkness said.

Kairi jolted upright in her bed, seeing the shine of a knife arc down on Namine’s sleeping form. She screamed, shrill and wild, hoping and praying that someone would hear her, and hurled herself at Ansem’s back. She wanted to spray him with the pepper spray, but she would blind them all in this small space.

Xion woke with a start, her sharp teeth flashing in the darkness. “What the—?”

Namine jolted, clutching the covers to her chest. She screamed uselessly in terror.

Kairi wedged her forearm under Ansem’s chin and yanked, hoping to choke him, but he allowed her to pull him down backwards. His heavy body crashed down on top of hers, crushing the air from her lungs with a whoosh of impact. Then, he lashed at her ribs with his elbows and connected hard enough to break one if her body had been any frailer. She cried out in sharp pain, yelping for Xion to help her. She tightened her arm over his throat, wrapping her legs around him from behind. 

She was not one to flee from danger—just as she hadn’t left Leon that night they had been attacked in the alleyway.

As it turned out, neither was Xion.

The dark-haired girl flung herself into the fray, tearing with her nails and teeth like a cornered animal. It was clear she was operating only on instinct, desperate to protect Namine and Kairi from Ansem. Her sharp vampire teeth flashed in the dimness like twin knives and she bit down on Ansem’s wrist, tearing at him with her deadly teeth. Ansem shrieked in pain and punched her soundly in the side of the head. The cartilage of her ear cracked. Her equilibrium swam and her head filled with clanging bells.

Namine leaped from the bed, threw open the trailer door, and crashed into Sora and Roxas outside. Desperately, she pointed into the darkness of the trailer, unable to form words.  
The twins pushed past her just as Ansem knocked Xion away like a paper doll. She fell into the table with a crash, tried to get up, and immediately fell again.

Roxas was carrying Leon’s handgun, loaded and ready, but he couldn’t fire because Kairi was wrapped around Ansem like a boa constrictor. 

“Kairi!” Sora shouted, his voice desperate as he flipped on the lights.

Ansem’s cold gold eyes met his through the darkness, grinning like a skull beneath the skin. “You’re in love with this little bitch, aren’t you, Sora?” he snarled and jabbed his elbow deeply into Kairi’s ribcage. Her body vibrated with pain and her grip slackened. Then, he managed to shake her off. He put his foot in her gut, pressing down hard enough that she couldn’t even cry for help. “How would you scream if I killed her?”

“Let her go!” Sora shouted, his hands clenching into fists.

Ansem grinned. “Do those hands still hurt?” he taunted.

Then, a gunshot exploded through the silence and Ansem stumbled back, a red rose blooming in his shoulder. He clutched at it, blood gushing over his hand in a waterfall that almost didn’t seem real. He found the wall and steadied himself.

With the distraction of the gunshot, Kairi scrambled to her feet, throwing herself into Sora’s arms. Immediately, he led her from the trailer, holding her close and supporting her. Xion tried to stand again, but couldn’t and she was too far for anyone else to reach. She tried to make herself small.

Riku, Axel, and Hayner joined the group from behind. 

Ansem laughed. “Are you all going to fight me?” he barked. “You’re as stupid as your freak leader.”

“You killed Leon,” Axel growled. His green eyes flashed dangerously. He had a lighter in his hand, but there was nothing to light.

Ansem spread his arms. “Come on, freak!”

“Don’t!” Roxas shouted. 

But Axel was enraged and it was too late. He flung himself at Ansem, the two of them grappling. Ansem had about a hundred pounds on Axel, but Axel was hopped up on adrenaline and he was in a frenzy. They smashed into the walls, bouncing off like pinballs. Then, Ansem got his knife into Axel’s thigh. Axel fell, clutching the wound in agony, howling. Ansem lifted the knife for a killing blow.

“Stop!” Roxas screamed again, panic gripping his heart. He squeezed off another shot, but it went wide and sank into the wall.

Ansem grinned at him and he was going to kill Axel.

Riku and Hayner lunged into the trailer, but Ansem shoved them aside. Then, he darted past Roxas and into the night.

“Don’t let him get away!” Namine screamed. Then, without a thought for her own safety or life, she ran after him.

“Namine!” Hayner shouted, desperate fear in his voice.

Desperately, Roxas looked from his friends and his twin, to the girl he loved, and his mortal enemy. Hayner was still pinned beneath Riku and couldn’t get up. Kairi had passed out in Sora’s arms, effectively halting him in place. Xion was still in the trailer, her equilibrium ruined by the blow to her ear. Axel was wounded, bleeding heavily. No one was left but him, but he didn’t want to be alone with his father as he had the night his body and face had been ruined.

“Stay here!” he shouted to Sora. Then, he ran after Namine.

“Roxas!” Sora shouted. “Wait!”

But he was already gone into the night.

…

Ansem had not been expecting his sons to once again be expecting him. Nor had he expected them to have made friends that cared enough to risk their lives protecting those worthless boys. All he wanted was to finish murdering his family, but everything was getting in his way.

As it was, he was being chased by the angel and he could hear the roar of the ocean. 

The cliffs were close, he realized.

Maybe he could still throw Roxas and that girl into the sea.

…

Roxas wouldn’t have been able to find them in the darkness if it wasn’t for Namine shouting for Ansem to stop and the glow of her white nightdress in the dark. Finally, he caught up with them just as they reached the cliffs. Ansem stopped at the edge, but Namine was still running. He saw Ansem’s dark hands close around her pale shoulders, yanked her to him, and immediately put her in a headlock.

“Let her go!” Roxas shouted.

Ansem laughed. “You always want to save everyone, Roxas, but you can’t do it. You couldn’t save your mother or your sister and now, you can’t save her.”

“Let her go!”

He adjusted Namine in his arms so she was standing at the edge of the cliff. Roxas could shoot him in the back, but then they would both go over the edge—Namine and Ansem… “Do you still want me to let her go, Roxas?”

“Stop this!” Roxas shouted.

Ansem laughed again. 

Then, Namine did something unexpected. She lashed out at Ansem, mule-kicking him square in the groin. He shoved her away and Roxas heard her screaming as she fell, but then she stopped. Had she fallen into the sea or had some miracle saved her?

Roxas squeezed off another shot and this one caught Ansem in the chest. The force knocked him back, still reeling from Namine’s kick. When Roxas saw him lose his balance and begin to fall, his first instinct was to reach out and save him. But he forced it down.

When Ansem fell, Roxas heard him laughing.

What kind of man laughed as he fell?

Relief speared through Roxas and he collapsed to his knees. It was over… it was finally over. He and Sora had nothing left to fear—Ansem was dead, finally gone from their lives. A moment later, he was lurched back to his feet. “Namine!” he shouted, running to the edge of the cliff. “Namine!”

X X X

I’m not sure how I feel about the way this climax came out. There were so many characters and everyone needed a part. Oh well, I think I made it work as best I could with so many people. At least it wasn’t as bad as Heavy Heart to Carry… That was really extreme with way too many characters!

Questions, comments, concerns?

Review!


	39. Aftershock, Aerith's Arrival

Ah… the usual aftershock. It’s time for everyone to go to the hospital!

X X X

“Namine! Namine!” Roxas screamed into the darkness over the edge of the cliff. Down below, all he saw was the endless washing of the Dream Sea at the base of the black stone cliffs. He could see Ansem’s body washing on the waves, but that was all. “Namine!”

“I’m here,” she said weakly.

Then, he saw her. She was desperately clinging to a rock ledge, her eyes wide with terror and full of tears.

“Give me your hand. I’ll pull you up,” he said.

“I can’t!” she whimpered.

“Yes, you can. Just let go with one hand and reach for me.”

“But I—”

“Namine, trust me. I will pull you up,” Roxas assured her.

She nodded, trembling, and reached for him with one hand. The ledge crumbled slightly beneath her other palm and panic speared through her. She clutched the ledge again desperately, whimpering and crying. “I… I’m going to fall!”

“Namine!”

“What’s going on?” Hayner raced up behind Roxas. “Where’s Namine?”

“Hayner,” Roxas said quickly. “Grab my legs!”

“What? Why?”

“Do it now!” Roxas slid forward far enough that he could reach Namine even if she couldn’t reach him.

Hayner dove, slamming his body weight down on Roxas’s legs. 

“Namine!” Roxas shouted and grabbed her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, gripping her body close to his own so that she wouldn’t fall unless he fell. “Hayner, can you pull us up?”

“No, but Riku is coming, just hold on,” Hayner said. “Just hold on, you two.”

“Don’t worry,” Roxas whispered into Namine’s hair, pressing his lips to her temple. “We will.”

When Riku reached them, he and Hayner made quick work of pulling Roxas and Namine back to safety. Once they were on solid ground again, Namine desperately hugged Hayner, sobbing. Roxas turned to leave, smiling sadly. She didn’t really care for him, he was sure. But then, she flung her arms around him from behind and she didn’t let him go. He felt her lips on the back of his neck, kissing him eagerly until his entire face was cherry-red in embarrassment. Riku and Hayner merely grinned at his plight.

Sora joined them. “Roxas,” he said, relief in his voice. “Where is he?”

Roxas smiled faintly, still holding Namine. “Gone,” he said.

Sora slid to his knees in relief. “Thank God.”

…

By the time they finished, dawn was breaking on the horizon. It was the most beautiful thing any of them had ever seen.

Riku drove Axel, Kairi, and Xion to the hospital. Axel’s leg needed stitches, Kairi was unconscious and that worried them, and Xion was still unable to get to her feet without help. Once the trio was fixed up and cleaned up, they returned to the circus grounds.

By now, it was crawling with police—red and blue lights flashing, the whole shebang so that a crowd was gathering outside the chain link fence that surrounded the fairgrounds. Sora and Roxas were fielding all questions with grace that spoke of dealing with the police for a lot of their young lives.

The police fished Ansem’s body from the ocean.

It was revealed that Sora and Roxas Strife were actually the Heart twins, presumed dead for five years.

Within hours, it was a media sensation.

Leon’s carnival had never been so active, if only Leon had been there to see it, but he had been avenged. They knew he was smiling down on them from… wherever he was. His broken ones were finally starting to mend.

…

On Friday the thirteenth, Aerith Waters arrived.

She immediately drowned her two children in a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re alright! You’re not hurt are you?” Then, she embraced Sora and Roxas. “You’re okay too, right, boys? Thank God!” Finally, she whirled through the others, hugging and kissing them too. “I’m happy everyone’s okay! How about some tea?”

She was like a pink and red whirlwind, but everyone was happy to have her. The loss of Leon was still so fresh and raw that it was nice to have an adult worrying about them again, like Leon used to. 

Leon’s sister Rinoa arrived later that day, called in by the police to talk about something they wouldn’t tell the young carnies.

“Listen,” the police chief told her. “We can’t allow his circus to stay in business without an adult leading it.”

“But my brother left it to these children,” Rinoa argued. “It’s in his will.”

“And I’m nineteen,” Riku protested.

The chief shook his head. “You’re not old enough to be in charge of all these people, son.” He turned to face Rinoa. “Ma’am, you’ll have to take over,” he informed her. “Or else shut this carnival down.”

Desperately, she looked at the small assembly of carnies all looking at her urgently, but she had other things to do. She couldn’t be running her brother’s carnival no matter how much she wanted or needed to. “I can’t,” she argued.

Aerith broke in kindly, touching Rinoa’s thin shoulder. “I can.”

“You?” Rinoa asked, her eyes widening. Her dog licked her hand.

“I’m an artist. I can work wherever and the circus is quite the medium,” she assured the younger woman with a smile.

Rinoa smiled first at Aerith and then at the police chief. “Is that good enough for you?”

He sighed and nodded. “Yes ma’am. We’ll get out of your hair now. I’m sure you have enough to sort out here.”

Aerith only smiled. 

“Really Mom?” Namine asked.

“Sure, why not?” Aerith said with a grin and a shrug.

Hayner rolled his eyes. “Artists,” was all he said.

Kairi and Namine giggled, soon joined in mirth by Riku and Axel. Xion was soon chuckling as well, her vampire teeth so happy in her mouth. Sora laughed out loud, throwing his head back and laughing from his very heart and soul. Roxas looked at his beautiful twin and his cerulean eyes filled with tears. Sora looked like he was making up for lost time.

X X X

Kind of a short chapter, but once I started the resolving section, I realized that there really wasn’t too much to resolve. There weren’t all that many issues to work out. Who knows? Maybe I forgot something and that’s why it seems so short, but I don’t think I did.

Questions, comments, concerns?


	40. Final Act: the Beauty and her Beast

Last chapter! Classic final chapter! Classic author’s note at the end! Enjoy the last!

X X X

It turned out that Aerith was almost as good at running the carnival as Leon was. Being an artist, she repainted some of the faded carousel horses. She also designed new posters for the freaks, painting them so they were beautiful and strange rather than just freakish. Steadily, she made the entire carnival beautiful, like a world full of Faerie lights and barley candies. Under her wings, the carnival became even more popular. Word got out that Leon’s Circus was more beautiful than any other. 

(Rinoa called to check in everyone once in a while, but they always had good news to tell her.)

With the surroundings of the circus life, freaks, carnival rides, antique carousel, and the strange places they went, Aerith and Namine’s artwork was like nothing anyone had ever seen. Namine’s debut piece—a fantastically huge portrait of Sora and Roxas standing together at the edge of the cliffs as the spirits of Leon and Myrtle Corbin floated behind them—was the most fantastic debut any artist could have hoped for and she had plenty more where that came from. She planned to paint everyone.

Even Hayner was happy to be with the freaks he had hated earlier. He had discovered that you really couldn’t judge a book by its cover and started spending a lot of time with Riku, talking about everything and anything. Axel started joking that Riku had turned him gay, but Aerith’s easy smile and agreement always shut the pyromaniac up. But the biggest change was probably in Roxas and Sora. With nothing horrible and hateful hanging over their lives anymore, they were happy.

Aerith also began helping everyone get their GEDs. As Sora and Roxas had fled their homes at age twelve, they had never even made it to high school. Xion had missed her senior year, Axel hadn’t completed his last three years, and Riku hadn’t finished school either. Only Kairi had before coming to join the circus. Aerith thought it be best if they all had an education, just in case they ever wanted to venture out into the world. And since she wasn’t about to let Hayner or Namine drop their educations, she figured she may as well home school everyone. The carnies all grumbled about it, but were happy to be learning way deep down. If Aerith believed they could someday be more than freaks and carnies, then they did too.

And so, life was good.

…

Namine finished her latest painting just as night was falling. Tonight, she had painted the crowd of the carnival, frozen in place with popcorn flying through the air and balloons caught mid-float while Kairi danced among Axel’s flames in the center of it all. It was beautiful, if she did say so herself.

She put away her easel in the trailer she shared with her mother and went out in search of Roxas. As he always was after a freak showing, he was in his trailer with Sora. Sora smiled at Namine, squeezed his brother’s shoulder, and left when she entered. Sora was so sweet, so intuitive, that something Namine wished he wouldn’t…

“Hey, Roxas,” she said and gingerly kissed him.

It wasn’t long before the light peck she gave him turned into a full-out make-out session. Roxas hadn’t been touched or loved for so much of his life that he was like a bottle of shaken soda, just exploding with passion and feeling. Sometimes, Namine felt like an empty vessel being filled up with his emotions, but she loved it all the same. As an artist, she wondered if there was a way she could paint how Roxas made her feel. Finally, they broke apart so Namine could gasp for breath. Roxas, as usual, was smiling and completely unruffled.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” she panted.

“Do what?” he grinned, all cheeky and happy with himself.

“Kiss me like that!” she snapped, exasperated.

His grinned widened. “Then how should I kiss you?”

Her cheeks flushed pink. “Like you love me,” she sputtered out. “Not like to want to swallow my tongue.”

“Let me try again.” He reached out and pulled her too him. Then, tickling her with kisses, he kissed her stomach and collarbones until she practically melted into a puddle of girly-goo in his lap. It was hard to resist so much love and passion in one person. Roxas was all feelings, bursting at the seams just for her.

Namine cupped his face in her hands, lifted his face, and kissed him like an floating angel bestowing a gift.

Roxas pulled her down to him, a beast about to devour her very heart and soul.

“You ate my heart,” she gasped against his lips.

“I think you painted mine into my chest again.”

She gasped as his hands pulled her to him, his breath hot on her throat, suckling lightly.

“I have no idea how you chose me instead of Sora,” he whispered into her skin.

“You’re prettier.”

He barked a laugh, but didn’t argue as he once would have. Namine loved him for who he was, not for his face or his body, and he loved her for everything she was. He wouldn’t have changed a single thing about her, not even her crazy brother or her artistic mother. He loved her.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She sucked in some air. “Really?”

He nodded.

“You’re not just saying that to get in my pants?”

He wrinkled his brow. “I’m not in your pants, Namine, and I wasn’t trying for that. Why? Were you thinking about it?” he grinned.

She flushed. “S-shut up!”

“You were, weren’t you?” he asked.

She crashed her lips to his, kissing him hard to shut him up. Then, she boldly took his hands and pressed them to her breasts. She had been thinking about it and she even had a condom in her pocket, but he didn’t need to know that. He also didn’t need to know that she had even bought lacy panties and a matching bra, but had been too chicken to wear them. All he needed to know what that she loved him and she wanted him. 

Roxas brushed his thumbs over her nipples, prying a moan of pleasure from between her teeth. Once he heard that, he wasted no time in getting more of those sounds from her. He slipped his hands beneath her white dress, ghosting his palms over her bare flesh. He pushed up her bra and cupped her breasts tenderly, kneading the small mounds in his hands. She wished she had more for him to fondle, but he accepted her and loved her the way she was. 

“Let me,” she whispered. She pushed him away long enough to pull her dress over her head. Then, embarrassed in only her bra and panties, she stood before him.

“You’re beautiful,” he breathed and drew her to him. 

She cupped his face, fingers trailing down the burns on his neck. “So are you.” Then, she pulled his t-shirt over his head and ran her hands down both sides of his chest—the porcelain perfection and the damaged scars. “I love you,” she whispered.

He kissed her, pressing her hand over his beating heart.

They fell into his bed, kissing, fastened at their mouths and hands. Namine explored his chest and then timidly cupped him through his jeans, but Roxas was a little bolder. After stroked his finger over her cotton panties and feeling her wetness, he slipped the small barrier aside and touched her aching sex directly. She mewled in pleasure, writhing against him. The scars on his chest felt so strange against her bare breasts, but she liked it.

He kissed her, murmuring her name.

She spread her legs, urging him and welcoming him even though her skin prickled with nervous goose bumps and cold. He pulled her panties down her legs, unfastened her bra, and tossed both aside. Then, he drank in the sight of her beautiful perfect naked body. He kissed her, one hand teasing her nipple while the other ghosted over her thighs. Then, he slipped one finger inside her.

She gasped, moaning into his ear and clutching him tight against her body. He was still wearing his pants and the friction of his jeans on her skin was like heaven. She rubbed against the hardness she felt against her thighs, wanting to feel that same hard friction against her aching sex. He added a second finger and began to pump in and out, feeling her muscles clenching around him.

“You’re sure you want this?” he whispered.

She produced the condom from he didn’t even know where. “Yes.”

Roxas kicked off his jeans and boxers immediately, eager to finally be with her fully. She tried to open the condom, then he tried, but neither one of them could get it open. Then, they froze, naked and staring at each other. This was a moment to think—a moment to regret what they were about to do. She looked over his damaged body, his stiff straining arousal, at her own wet spread thighs, and then back to his face. He was waiting patiently, his heart in his throat, his eyes begging her not to reject him. Then, Namine took the edge of the foil in her teeth and tore it.

“I’m sure,” she said again.

Roxas nodded and rolled it over his erection. He cradled her in his lap, her hands on his shoulder, hovering above his shaft. “Take your time,” he whispered into her ear.

She nodded, grateful. She had heard from Selphie how much it could hurt the first time.

Gingerly, she gripped him and guided him inside herself. Then, she slid down, bit by bit. It was vaguely uncomfortable, being stretched and filled, but he was so warm inside her that she wanted to forget that small discomfort and fill every inch of herself with him. When she finally sheathed him inside her, it didn’t hurt at all. Pure bliss had replaced it.

“Move,” she gasped.

And he did.

Roxas wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted his hips for better leverage, and thrust into her hard. Each thrust sent the breath exploding from her lungs with a moan that might have been his name. He gripped her tightly against his chest, kissing her mouth as he slipped in and out of her at a steady pace. Soon, she was crying for him to go faster and harder, deeper and deeper, and he obliged her. He would deny her nothing.

“Namine, I’m…” he gasped.

“Just a little more,” she whimpered in pleasure. 

Then, her hands wandered down between them and he watched her touching herself in one spot that made her insides clench so tightly around him that it made it hard to move. He reached to take her place just as his orgasm rocked him and she screamed out his name in bliss. Panting, he remained inside her until he was soft enough to slide out. Namine collapsed on the bed, her white skin pink and beautiful. He discarded the used condom and came to lay beside her, cradling her against his damaged flesh. She traced the scars with her fingertips until she fell asleep.

…

Sora spent the night in Kairi and Xion’s trailer because he insisted it wasn’t ‘safe’ in his own. (Only Kairi understood why because Roxas had said the same thing when he had returned to his trailer to find his younger twin and the red-haired contortionist twisted together in a tangle of naked limbs. It had turned into kind of an inside joke.) 

But the next day, Namine set about painting Roxas in a way no one had seen before. She painted him scarred and beastly, standing in a nest of carnival mirrors in low-slung jeans so that the entirety of his damage was revealed. Each mirror showed him in a grotesque freakish form, scarred and ugly. All save the one in the middle of the nest that took up most of the canvas, that was—a heart-shaped mirror that showed his face and body perfectly, pale and without scars and beautiful.

She titled it simply, “The Heart Within.”

X X X

I kind of had to recover the Beauty and the Beast theme at the end there, but I think it came out well. I was also going for a playful lemon. You like? 

And, drum roll please, we are finished! 

Here we go. 

Well, BaileyMermaid, what’cha think? (Since this originally came from your request.)

A VERY DIFFERNET AUTHOR’S NOTE! Please, read!

First, drop a REVIEW and let me know what you think! Does my ROMANCE come on way too fast and then too sudden? Or is it perfect? Are all the side issues distracting? Too violent? Too dark? (Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and weenies!) Think I need to do more editing before I post chapters? I REQUEST CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OF EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING! (You all love me way to much that no one says anything except how good it is. If it IS that GOOD, by all means tell me! But if something bothers you about my writing, by all means, tell me now!) Yada, yada, yada…

Second, I own nothing except my original characters: like… Katie and Lillian Heart. I also own my plot! So there, now I can't be sued!

Third, there will be no sequel… at all, so don't ask!

FOURTH, please, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! **The Breaking of Poisonwood** by Paradise Avenger. (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected this. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The Poisonwood—)

Fifth, I do NOT want to hear anyone whining that Sora and Kairi didn’t get a lemon. (Roxas and Namine were the main pairing and only the main pairing gets a lemon. These stories aren’t sex-fests.)

Sixth, stay tuned for my next story.

Finally, thank you for making it this far! All the way to the end! Woot!

And so, I bid you adieu.

Questions, comments, concerns?


End file.
